It's Complicated
by Daring007
Summary: Katniss is a young mother that goes into the Games. Everything in her life has been complicated and hard to grasp. She finds out the truth and secrets that have been kept from her. Cato is her other half and Snow's grandson. Rated M because well Cato... -The story is better than the summary. Trust me!
1. prologue

Her Grandmother on her Dad's side was a whore. Everyone in District 12 knew her. She had three kids from three different men. First one was Ross Everdeen, he took his father's last name because he wanted nothing to do with his mothers ways as he got older. Plus his mother was still very young not even in her 30's yet.

Two years later his brother was born Jack Hawthorne, he also took his fathers last name when he got older. They both were children of a Seam man. Seam meaning poor, coal miners. They looked exactly like their father's dark brown hair, olive skin, and grey eyes.  
Three years later their last brother was born Caleb Mellark. His father was a Merchant who owned the town Bakery. He also looked nothing like his Seam mother. He had his father's features. Shaggy blond hair, lighter skin and bright blue eyes.

Each boy went and lived with their father when their mother died in her late 30's, but they always kept in contact. They would meet out in the woods every Saturday despite it being illegal. They spent so much time out there that they all started creating weapons to hunt with. Caleb Mellark made too much noise to hunt so with his new-found skills he created weapons for his older brothers to hunt with.

They were inseparable. They did everything together in the woods, but when out in public Ross and Jack couldn't speak to their younger brother Caleb because he was from town and town people barely liked Seam people, but everybody knew they were all brothers even if they didn't look-alike, they knew.

The only thing these three brothers worried about was survival and The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is where the Capitol picks one male and one female tribute 12-18 to represent their district in a fight to the death and there is only one Victor. The bothers' didn't want either of them to go into it and if one of them did go in they would go in ready. So they trained each others on how to survive and fight.

Over time as they each had gotten older and none of their names were called, Ross and Jack started working in the mines and eventually Caleb took over the bakery.

Jack was the first one to marry and have a boy named Gale. Caleb was second to marry and he married a Merchant girl who was nice at first. They had a boy a year after Gale was born naming him Rye.

Ross the oldest was the last to marry because it took a long time for him to get a Merchant girl to marry him. She was the daughter of the town healers and they had disowned her for marrying a coal miner from the Seam. A year later they had a daughter named Katniss at the same time as Caleb had his second son Peeta.

They kept their kids close to each other. Letting them know the meaning of what a family really is. Another 4 years later Ross had a set of twins which is very rare in District 12. First was a boy, her brother, Hagan with wavy blond hair and grey eyes and second to come was a girl, her sister, Primrose with wavy blond hair and blue eyes. Jack had another son a couple of days later naming him Rory.

After that no more kids were born. Ross's older daughter became more like him everyday and protected her younger siblings along with her many cousins. The first time her Dad took her out into the woods she was 6. He taught her how to shoot a bow and arrow and hunt. She was a natural at it like it was made for her hands only. Gale is good at setting traps and okay with a bow and arrow but he excels when an ax is in his hands. Peeta isn't good at anything that has to do with weapons, but he can fight with just his hands. Rye was good at throwing knifes and nothing else.

They practically lived in the woods with their fathers by their side. Peeta and her were only 8, Gale was 10 and Rye was 9 when one day they were out hunting with their fathers when a boy Gale's age came out into the clearing. He looked nothing like them in District 12. He had spiky golden blond hair and piercing icy blue eyes, the iciest she had ever seen. They all had stared at him and he stared back not knowing what to do.

The girl was the one who stepped up to him curiously and sized him up and down trying to sense if he was a threat to them, but he wasn't.

"Who are you?" She had finally asked him. He seem startled by her strong voice and looked her over with his eyes and then smirked.

"I could ask you the same thing." He said. She had scowled at him.

"Are you lost or something?" she asked him still scowling.

"No. Are you?" He replied back still smirking. She had wanted to smack that smirk right off that cocky bastards face.

"I'd watch it if I were you. She has a bad temper for an 8-year-old girl." She heard Gale say with amusement in his voice.

"Good to know. She's like a little Spitfire." The boy said. She growled at him already had lost what little temper she had and punched him square in the face. He fell back in surprise at how much a little 8-year-old girl could pack a punch. She had raised her bow and arrow at him, eyes blazing.

"Who. Are. You?" She had demanded again with her bow pointed at him. All he did was rub his chin and got up. He looked at her bow and then back at her. He liked this little Spitfire.

"Cato." He finally said holding out his hand. She looked at it suspiciously, but then lowered her bow and took his bigger hand in her smaller one and gave him a small smile which was very rare for her to give a stranger.

"Katniss." She had said. He smiled back, a real smile and looked over shoulder at the people behind her who looked shocked. Her Dad was the first one to get over it.

"I'm her Dad, Ross, and you my boy are the very first to actually make friends with her. As you can tell she isn't really nice around other people." He had explained and she glared at him and huffed. She knew it was true and it wasn't her fault she didn't trust people like that.

"Yea, she takes after her Dad and Uncle. By the way I'm Caleb her Uncle and these are my boys Peeta and Rye." Her uncle had commented. Peeta and Rye waved.

"If she can accept you then I guess your alright. I'm Jack and this is my son Gale." Her other uncle had said and Gale nodded at Cato. Cato had nodded back. Katniss turned to him.

"Where are you from." She asked him. He shrugged and smirked.

"Around." Was all he said. Then added, " Why are you out in the woods?"

"Answer my question first and I'll answer yours." She shot back with a smirk of her own. He's starting to grow on her even if they only knew each other for 5 minutes.

"Fine, I'm from District 2." He said realizing this little girl was something else.

"Then why are you here?" She asked him curiously.

"I believe you still have to answer my question." He said. She huffed.

"We were hunting." Was all she had said. He nodded.

"Aren't you a bit scrawny to handle a bow?" He teased her cocking his head to the side. He seemed to like getting her all worked up and frustrated. She just smirked not really bothered by his comment.

"Apparently not if I could knock you on your ass with one punch." She taunted him. He glared at her but still had an amused smile on his face.

"Point taken." Was all he said back as they both heard laughter coming from behind her. They looked and saw everybody laughing.

"You guys are so cute bickering. Looks like your going to have to watch out Ross because Cato here has his eye's on your daughter." Jack chuckled. Ross just shook his head.

"Watch it boy." He said halfheartedly. Cato held up his hands in surrender.

"Wasn't trying anything." He said.

* * *

After that encounter Ross took Cato under his wing finding a liking in the boy. Katniss and him bickered when they were together which was all the time before Cato had to go back to District 2. Oddly enough all that bickering they did made them become best friends and only saw each other in the woods when Cato was in District 12 which was every 6 months.

Cato had eventually met the other Everdeens Hagan, Prim and their mom. They all took a liking into Cato.

Cato started realizing his feelings toward Katniss when he was 12 but Katniss being only 10 was naïve and so young that he had to keep quiet about it. As Katniss got older she started feeling the same for him but he just didn't know it yet.

But Katniss pushed all thoughts of love behind her when her Dad and Uncle Jack died in a coal mining accident and she had to become the head of the house at only 11 because her Mom had checked out on them just staring off into space. Hagan and Prim were only 7 when it happened.

Cato had come back that winter, 5 months later, and found a very skinny Katniss in the woods at their spot crying her eyes out. This was the first time he had ever seen her cry, well in front of him that is. He went to her and pulled her close.

"Kat what's wrong?" He asked.

"Their dead Cato."She sobbed. He looked at her confused.

"Whose dead?" He asked trying to understand.

"My Dad and Uncle Jack... Their dead. I only have Uncle Caleb left. They died in the mine explosion 5 months ago and my Mom checked out into some deep depression." She finished bitterly. Cato's blood froze and he could feel hot tears stinging his eyes. He tried to be strong in front of her but he couldn't because Ross and Jack were like his father figures including Caleb. He felt crushed and started crying with Katniss. They clung to each other desperately thinking the other will disappear. When Cato finally pulled himself together he took Katniss face in his hands wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

"We're going to be alright." He told her softly. She didn't look convinced, but she wanted to believe him so badly.

"How do you know?" She asked in a small voice that didn't sound like her. He breathed deeply and then smiled at her.

"Because I love you." He confessed and kissed her. This was her first kiss so she didn't know what to do, but she didn't pull away from it. The kiss tasted like salt from their tears, but she didn't mind. When he pulled away he start apologizing which was something he never did.

"I'm sorry I just couldn't help it. I know your only 11 and I'm older. It's just something about you that draws me to you." He kept rambling. All she could do was laugh.

"Cato, shut up." She chuckled. He snapped his mouth shut nodding.

"I have feelings for you too, but I don't know if it's love yet." She confessed after a minute.

"It's okay, I understand." He sighed. She nodded not saying anything.

That day they spent all day in the woods and made bracelets for each other.

3 years later...

"Hey." Rye said noticing Cato.

"Hey" He said back. Katniss seemed to notice his defeated posture and asked him what was wrong.

"This is the last time you guys will be able to see me unless I win." He said not looking them in the eye.

"Why?" He heard Peeta ask him and he could feel Katniss, Rye and Gale staring him down.

"I'm going into the Games this year." He mumbled and he could hear the sharp inhale from all of them.

"Why?" Peeta asked again.

"Because I have no choice. You don't know who my grandfather is or what he could do if I don't." Cato explained finally looking up but he wished he hadn't because he could see Katniss 14-year-old self having silent tears run down her cheeks.

"Will you be able to make it home?" Gale asked. Cato shrugged.

"Don't know. Just - if I don't, don't forget me please." He said. They nodded except Katniss who had a scowl on her face now.

"Gale, Peeta, Rye can you give us some privacy?" She asked them still looking at Cato.

They nodded and went somewhere in the woods. When they were out of ear shot Katniss marched up to Cato and smacked him hard.

"Ow..what was that for?" Cato asked holding his red cheek.

"That was for giving up on yourself. This is not the Cato I know." Katniss said fuming. Cato sighed.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to get your hopes up if I didn't." He said looking into her grey eyes. She sniffed

"Your coming back to me." She said and lifted her wrist and took off the bracelet he gave her that said 'Spitfire'.

"What are you doing?" He asked confused as she put the bracelet around his wrist with the one she had given him.

"Like I said your coming back to me. You have to bring this bracelet back to me and I want you to wear it as your token." She said looking at him. He nodded.

"I'll come back to you. I promise." He said with determination.

"See this is the Cato I know." She smiled through her tears and hugged him. He hugged her back tightly not wanting to let go but did when Gale, Rye and Peeta came back into view.

"I'll see you guys later. Just remember whatever you see on that screen is fake and only for show." Cato said and went to give them a brotherly hug then left.

"So..does this mean he's coming back?" Rye asked Katniss.

"He's coming back." She said nodding and they went on hunting.

* * *

It was painful for her to watch him volunteer and go into the games. He had put on a cocky care-free act for the Capitol people and boy what a show it was. He ended up winning much to her relief, but she wouldn't see him until his Victory Tour which wasn't for another 4 months.

When the time came to see him finally she was excited like everybody else in her family except her Mom who just stares at the wall all day. Not many people in District 12 liked him because he was from a Career District and normally those Districts would kill their tributes. But Katniss knows Cato made sure to not even go near their tributes this year so the citizens didn't hate him that much.

It just shocked all of them even Katniss when they did Cato's interview after the Games and announced him as President's Snow grandson. Katniss was mad at first that Cato didn't tell her, but then she could see why. If she was in his shoes then she wouldn't want anyone to know that her granddad was Snow. He was an evil man.

So when everybody was at the Justice Building to hear the Victors speech that they hear every year Cato was nervous when he stepped out on the balcony. But nobody could tell only Katniss was able to notice from being around him for so long. After his speech was over everybody gave him a round of applause and that was it. Cato caught Katniss's eye before he went back into the building. He got her silent message.

_The Woods_

They met in the woods at night when everybody had gone to sleep. Katniss ran to Cato as he stood there and waited for her; That's just who he was. She wrapped her legs around his middle and arms around his muscular neck.

"Who knew you would have missed me this much." Cato teased. He heard her give a weak chuckle.

"I told you, you would come back." Katniss murmured into his neck. He hugged her tightly against him, the cocky façade fading now turning serious.

"For you. I came back for you." He said and pulled back to look at her face.

"I love you." Katniss blurted out for the first time with tears streaming down her face.

"I love you too. Always have." He said and kissed her. She returned the kiss eagerly. When he pulled away he had a sad smile on his face.

"This is probably the last time we will see each other. They want me in the Capitol for now on." He said. Katniss sniffed.

"Then let's not waste this time we have together." She said and took him by surprise when she attacked his lips while running her hands through his spiky smooth hair. He had to forced himself to pull away from her.

"Katniss are you sure?" He asked. She nodded.

"Please make love to me Cato." She had said and kissed him again but this time with much more force. He didn't protest as he laid her down on the woods floor and started taking off her jacket.

Once they were naked in the open woods Cato didn't waste anytime before slowly pushing into her virgin hole. Katniss felt sharp pains as she felt him slide in until he was in as far as he could go. Cato stilled letting her adjust to his size and Katniss held her breath until she couldn't feel the pain anymore. Once she was adjusted she slowly began to move her hips to test out if she was ready.

"I'm ready." She said. Cato nodded not being able to talk or he would lose his concentration on not blowing his load inside her. This was his first time to and he didn't want to mess up her's and his. He leaned down and started kissing her as he started to move in and out slowly creating a slow rhythm for them and massaged her breasts. All he could think about was how tight and wet and warm she was for him.

Their moans and groans got lost in each others mouths and they only came up for air when it was needed. Katniss could feel herself tightening up wanting to uncoil and let go. She is so overwhelmed with Cato's slow thrust making her see the true meaning of love-making that she lets herself go detaching her mouth from Cato's as she calls his name into the night sky.

It was all too much for Cato feeling her cum around him and he looses all senses with two quick thrusts he spills himself in her.

"Katniss.." He moans into her neck emptying his load inside her. Katniss shudder at the sensation feeling sensitive there now. He pulls out of her and moves himself so as he collapses on his back at Katniss's side. They both breath heavily trying to catch their breaths. Cato pulls Katniss close to him as his breathing slows down and wraps his arms around her naked body.

"Thank you." He breathes rubbing small circles with his thumb on her stomach. Katniss chuckles confused.

"For what?" She asks.

"For trusting me something that can't be returned." He says and kisses her neck. Katniss sighs feeling sleepy.

"Then thank you too." She says. Cato chuckles.

"Your welcome." He says and then adds, "Let's get dress so we can go." Katniss shakes her head.

"Why can't we spend the night in the woods?" She ask him not wanting him to go yet. Cato shrugs.

"I never thought of it, but I guess we can." He says after a minute of thinking. "But we should get dress at least. Only I can see you like this." He says with positiveness as he runs his hands over her still developing breast and then down to the rest of her body. Katniss nods and starts to get up too tired and sore to come up with something witty to say back.

They get dress and Katniss wipes the blood off between her legs with some Moss and then puts her underwear and pants back on. They move over to a base of a tree and lay down with Katniss on top of Cato. Katniss lays her head on Cato's chest where his heart is and lets the thumping sound of his heart pull her to sleep.

Cato watches Katniss sleep on top of him for a minute until he finally goes to sleep himself wonder how is he going to stay away from her for so long.

A month later, Katniss didn't think anything of it, when her stomach started to get fat. She thought she was eating too much, but when Gale pointed out that she was getting slow on one of their hunts and she was out of breath a lot he started to get worried about her. So he went to the only person he knew that would know what was wrong with her. He brought their uncle out in the woods one day when he and Katniss where suppose to go hunting. They met her in their meeting spot and Katniss looked at them confused.

"What are you doing here Uncle." She asked. Caleb looked her over with his eyes and knew right away what was wrong with her.

"Katniss do you get tired a lot more than usual?" He ask her ignoring her question.

"No," She lied. Gale scoffed at her.

"She's lying. Every time we go on a hunt she's always breathless when we get back or slow. Not like her usual self." He explained crossing his arms. Caleb nodded.

"Katniss, when was your last period?" He asked. Katniss looked at him disbelieving that he just asked something that is so personal.

"Uncle." She squeaked out looking embarrassed. Gale tried hard not to laugh because he never seen Katniss blush before.  
"Stop being so modest Kat." Their uncle rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Katniss looked up at the sky trying to remember when her last period was, but she came up short. Was it 2 months ago? she thought to herself.

"I don't know." She finally sighed looking at him. Caleb sighed as well. He was hoping he was wrong when he knew what was wrong with her, but the facts prove it.

"Katniss, your pregnant." He just went for like ripping a band off. Katniss and Gale gapped at him with their eyes wide and mouth ajar.

"What!" Gale sputtered. Caleb rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. It was bad timing as Peeta and Rye found them in the clearing.

"Hey guys...Wait what's going on?" Rye asked after getting closer to them. Katniss had ignored them coming out of her shocked state.

"That can't be right! I'm only 14. How am I suppose to provide for my family if I have to watch out for my baby?" She exclaims feeling like she wants to throw up because all of this is just too much for her. But she keeps the bile vomit down. Peeta and Rye are just confuses not knowing what they are talking about.

"Baby? What baby?" Peeta ask.

"Katniss is pregnant." Gale says throwing his hands up in the air like he can't believe it.

"Whose the Dad?" Rye ask after a minute.

"Yea Katniss who is the dad." Gale ask fuming already planning to beat the living shit out of this guy. Katniss looks at all of them and then looks at the ground gulping. She has to lie to them because she too scared to tell them just yet and that's a rare thing for her to ever be scared.

"I don't know." She says and finches at how bad it sounds to not know who you slept with. It makes her sound even worse than her Grandmother because at least she knew who the father of her child was.

"You don't know? How the hell don't you know who you fucking slept with?" Gale exclaims. Caleb puts a hand on Gale's shoulder.

"Calm down Gale. Maybe she's just too scared to tell us. I would be too if you were yelling at me like that." He reasons. Katniss is glad that her uncle is always calm and level-headed.

"He's right. It's not going to solve anything if you keep yelling at her." Peeta says. Gale nods and mutters a sorry to Katniss who nods.

"S,o Katniss who is the father?" Caleb ask calming. Katniss runs a hand through her hair.

"Cato." She says and holds her breath waiting for someone to react.

"I could have guessed that." Rye says after a minute. Peeta nods agreeing.

"Ok, at least I know him." Gale mutters crossing his arms then adds, " I still want to kill him though." Caleb taps the back of Gale's head telling him to knock it off.

"We'll help you raise the baby, right dad?" Peeta ask his father who nods.

"Yea, we will and since winter is coming up we'll keep you well fed as you get bigger." He says. Katniss nods relieved and hugs her uncle. He hugs her back petting her hair.

"Remember you always have family to lean on." He whispers. She nods and lets him go.

As the months go by Katniss stomach gets bigger to where it starts to show and people start gossiping at school about her turning into her Grandmother. Katniss stopped going to school after that because she hates being the center of attention. Her mom started to come around but not to her usual self all she did was continue her healers work not talking much.

Hagan and Prim couldn't wait for their niece or nephew to come. They help Katniss with everything when she got too big to do things on her own.

* * *

As more months pass and Katniss goes into labor Peeta, Her Uncle, Gale, Rory, Prim, Rye, and Hagan where all there. Peeta and Gale where getting their hands squished from Katniss's death grip as Prim and their mom delivered the baby. Katniss felt relieved when the baby was out. Prim announced it was a baby boy as she cleaned it up and wrapped it in a blanket giving it to Katniss.

Katniss smiled at him in through her tears. His eyes were grey with specks of blue and little blond hair on his head. She didn't have time to look at his other features as she yelled out in pain. The baby in her arms started crying and was taken away by her uncle.

"What's wrong with her?" Rory asked. Mrs. Everdeen looked up at them.

"Another baby is coming." Was all she said and went back to her task. Everybody was shocked.

"What?" Katniss exclaimed in pain.

This is one of District 12's disadvantages as because they don't have the equipment to check the gender of the baby or how many you're going to have. As the second baby started to come Katniss couldn't help but wish Cato was there with her, but her family was enough.

"It's a girl." Prim said cleaning up the baby, wrapping it in a cloth and giving it to Katniss. She took it eagerly wiping the sweat off of her forehead cradling the crying baby in her arm. She soothed her baby girl getting her to stop crying. She had brunette hair and icy blue eyes with specks of violet. Katniss couldn't help but think that she had her dads eyes. Caleb brought her other baby to her and she took it in her other arm now holding both her babies.

"Do you know what you're going to call them?" Rye asked quietly so he wouldn't disturb the now sleeping babies in her arms. Katniss nodded.

"His name is going to Skye. Skye Ross Valentine" She says looking at her baby boy.

"I like that name." Hagan comments.

"What about the girl?" Gale ask quietly looking at his precious niece.

"Raven Faith Valentine." Katniss says.

"Your not giving them your last name?" Prim ask. Katniss shakes her head.

"No, I want them to have Cato's." She says. They nod in understanding.

"We have a lot of work cut out for us." Gale mutters. Katniss nods with everybody else.

"We do."

And so the story begins about the life of a young mother Katniss Hope Everdeen.


	2. The real Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_

_**Hello again. I know I did not leave a note on the Prologue. **_

_**I just want to say this is my second fan fiction story, so I'm not new at this anymore. Just at the relationship I chose. **_

_**Thank you for those who were my first reviews. I really appreciate it, greatly.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Only the plot I came up with.**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Katniss gaze down at her one year old sleeping with pillows around them so they won't roll off the bed. She's up earlier than usual well who could blame her with today being Reaping day nobody is able to sleep long on this day. Prim and Hagan have been having nightmares for a week about being picked. Katniss always tells them that it's their first year in the Reaping with only one slip of paper in the ball; so they can't be picked.

But it still didn't stop them waking up in the middle of them screaming their heads off and waking up her babies making them cry and then she would have to sing them all back to sleep. She's the only one who inherited her father's voice. It was one of the reasons why her mother fell in love him.

Katniss sighs running her hand through her baby boy's ever-growing wavy blond hair. She loves her babies more than life itself and wishes Cato could see them and know he is a father. She hasn't seen him besides on TV since the night they were conceived. She longs to see him again.

She makes herself get out of bed to meet everybody in the woods to get food for later on to celebrate if none of them are picked today. She leans down and gives both her little angels a kiss on their lips and forehead and then starts getting dress.

She pulls on her father's hunting jacket which is big on her and grabs her game bag with what Hagan and Prim left out for her. Goat cheese wrapped in basil. Katniss smiles at how thoughtful they are and kisses their heads as she heads for the door.

A hissing stops her short and she hisses back at the ugly Cat her sister so desperately wanted to keep. Katniss doesn't even know why, it's an ugly fat little thing and just another mouth to fill. When Prim first brought it home she moved her babies as far away from that thing as possible and then she tried to drown it when everybody was sleep. She felt guilty when Prim started crying when she found out, so Katniss caved in letting the little fur ball stay.

He has yellow eyes, a half torn ear and patches of fur missing but it didn't stop Prim from loving it. To this day Buttercup still hates her and only associates with her if she has food to give.

"Watch them or I won't hesitate to drown you again." Katniss hisses at Buttercup. He hisses back and looks away from her clearly done with having her in his presence. She rolls her eyes at the damn Cat and leaves the house.

Katniss finds everybody in the woods already waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late I didn't want to leave them." Katniss says and retrieves her bow and arrows from a hollow tree.

"Don't worry about it we still have plenty of time." Peeta says brushing her off. She nods.

"So what should we do today?" Rye asks.

"How about fishing and hunt for a squirrel or two?" Gale suggests. They shrug.

"Sure, why not. We haven't been fishing in a while." Rye says already heading toward the small pond. They followed in tow and started getting food.

They sat in the valley where it over looked the rest of the forest. Katniss started pulling out Prim and Hagan's treat for them.

"Prim and Hagan packed us some cheese." She said pulling it out and showing them.

"That would go great with what our Dad packed us." Peeta said and pulled out a loaf of still warm bread.

"Yea and these strawberries I picked as y'all were hunting." Rye added in.

"I got some blackberries." Gale says. Katniss nods and start rationing the food out equally. They all start eating in quiet until Gale breaks it.

"I wish we could live out here." He mutters. They nod.

"It would be better than the way we are living now." Rye comments.

"Too bad it's illegal." Katniss says. They sigh.

"But if it wasn't-" Gale starts but Katniss cuts him off.

"But it is, so drop it." She says sternly glaring at him. He nods knowing not to continue the subject.

"So what happens if one of us gets Reaped today?" Rye ask after a tense minute but this only adds the tension.

"We won't get Reaped." Katniss chocks out, but even she doesn't believe the words that are coming out of her mouth anymore. She has 20 slips of paper in there this year and Gale has 42. The odds are nod in their favor.

"That's bullshit Catnip and you know it." Gale says. Katniss sighs knowing she can't argue back.

"Well then take of my babies if I go in." Katniss says after another tense minute. They give her a hard look.

"You know we will protect them with our own lives. It's kind of insulting that you even had to ask us." Peeta says. She nods.

"Sorry."

"I think we should go get ready now. Reaping starts in an hour." Gale says. They start to get up. Once they are by the un-electrified fence they give each other a hug and then slip under the fence and separate.

Katniss gets home and find Hagan and Prim playing with Skye and Raven making them laugh. She smiles at the scene before her wishing they could just stay like this. She snapped her own self out of her thoughts.

"Are you guys ready?" She asks them. They nod and their mom comes into the room.

"I laid something out for you to wear." She says softly. Katniss only nods her head and goes into the bathroom to wash the sweat off of her. She still hasn't forgiven her yet.

She stares at the dress her mother's blue merchant dress before putting it on. Her mom comes in the room to do her hair.

"You look pretty." She says softly finishing her hair.

"Thanks" Was Katniss only response. She didn't accepts compliments well.

"I think he wants his mamma." Prim comes in the room with a wailing Skye in her arms. Katniss scoops him up in her arms and he stops crying almost immediately in her arms.

"You can tell he's going to be a mamma's boy." Hagan says enter the room carrying Raven over his shoulder who has her thumb in her mouth. That's become a bad habit of hers that Katniss has tried to break. Hagan puts her down since she can walk on her own a little. She walks slowly over to Katniss cautious of the steps she's making.

It's wonderful at how quickly her babies are developing. They can say some words like_ 'Mamma'_, _'Food'_,_ 'No', _which is Raven's favorite word to say, and other words. Raven makes her way over to her Mom and grabs hold of her leg. Katniss smiles down at her seeing she's in a little dress, little shoes and her shoulder length straight chocolate hair pulled back into a small braid. Raven puts her hands up towards Katniss saying,

"Up, Mamma." And tries to climb up her leg. Katniss shifts Skye on her hip who plays with her ear and bends down to pick her up. Now both of them are on her hips.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Katniss ask Prim and Hagan who nod somberly. They all walk out of the house and down to the square where the Justice Building is. As they get closer Katniss notices Prim shirt tail is out.

"Prim tuck in your shirt, little duck." Her motherly side comes out. She does and they keep walking until Prim starts to freak out, having a little panic attack as they are in line. Her mother already went where the other adults go.

Katniss hands Raven over to Hagan and pulls Prim to the side.

"Prim everything is going to be alright. Just do as they ask and then go stand in your section." Katniss tries to sooth. Prim nods and they walk back to where Hagan is and Katniss takes back Raven from him.

After they are done checking in Katniss stands h the 16-year-old section with her babies and watches Prim and Hagan take their places. Effie Trinket walks onto the stage with the Mayor and starts the Reaping.

After they play the video telling them about the dark ages Haymitch stumbles onto the stage and sits down in his assigned chair next to the mayor and waves at the crowd being a drunken mess.

Effie makes a sound of disapproval but doesn't comments as she says.

"Ladies first." She then walks over to the girls bowl and sticks her hand in and brings it out holding a slip of paper. Everybody holds their breath as she makes her way back to the microphone and starts opening the slip.

Katniss doesn't have time to wish for it to not be Prim as Effie calls out the name of the girl tribute.

"Primrose Everdeen."

Effie says loud and clear. You could hear a pin drop at how quiet it got. The girls made way for a shocked Prim to go up on to the stage. She walks slowly and Katniss watches hers go and only snaps out of her shocked state at the sight of her shirt untucked in the back.

She pushes her way through the crowd to try to get to Prim with Skye and Raven on her hips, people make way for her.

"Prim!" Katniss yells as she gets into the clearing and Peacekeepers try to block her from continuing. She struggles against them knocking one on the ground as she stills yells for Prim and makes her way to her and steps in front of her and the words slip out of her mouth before she could think.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" She yells. Prim starts scream and clinging on to her.

"Katniss, NO! NO!" She's crying now begging for her not to. Katniss struggles to get her off with her two kids in her arms.

"Prim let go and go find mom." Katniss says struggling. Prim keeps scream as Rye and Gale come up to them. Gale picks Prim up who still screams her name and Rye takes Skye and Raven away from her and they start wailing from being separated from their Mamma.

"Mamma!" Skye wails trying to get to her and Raven does the same saying,

"No!" It breaks Katniss heart to see them like this.

"Up you go Catnip." Gale says and takes Prim away and Rye follows him. Peacekeepers push her toward the steps and she makes her way up to a waiting Effie.

"District 12's very first volunteer. Come on dear." She says. She climbs the last of the steps numbly still able to hear her babies crying out for her but she keeps an emotionless face as possible knowing this is being televised and she doesn't want to seem weak to the Nation

"What's your name dear?" Effie asks her as she stands in her spot on stage.

"Katniss Everdeen." She says in a monotone.

"Well, I bet my buttons that was your sister." Effie states. Katniss wants to look at her like she's stupid and ask sarcastically,

_What gave it away?_

But she doesn't she only says_ yes_ in a monotone voice.

"Well please give a round of applause for District 12's very first volunteer, Katniss Everdeen." Effie says encouragingly and claps.

Nobody applause instead they press their three fingers to their lips and raise it out to her. This means thanks, admiration, and good-bye to someone you love. Katniss throat bobs and her eyes go glassy. She wills herself not to cry because this might be the last time she'll see Skye, Raven and everybody else.

Effie not really knowing what to do, so she moves on with the Reaping.

"And now for the boys." She says and walk over to the bowl and pulls out a slip. She waste no time in reading the slip wanting to get this over with. Wishing they would stop giving her this crappy district who have no manners

"Hagan Everdeen."

Gasp come from everywhere as they put together what this means.

_Brother and sister going into the Games together._

Katniss looks at Gale, Peeta and Rye and glares at them hard and shakes her head so only they can see. Silently saying,

_Don't you fucking dare or I'll kill you myself._

They all hang their heads knowing she isn't playing. They know she'll give her life to make sure Hagan comes out alive.

Hagan makes his way to the stage too shocked not being able to register himself that he's even walking. He steps on the stage and stands in his spot.

"Any volunteers?" Effie calls out.

Nobody comes forth which Katniss is glad about.

"Very well then. Here we are. Our tributes from District 12. Well come you two, shake hands." She says gesturing between the both of them.

Katniss pulls Hagan into a tight hug and whispers in his ear.

"Don't cry this is being televised." She says. She feels him nod.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor." Effie chirps.

Katniss and Hagan break apart and Effie ushers them into the Justice building. They are separated and brought into two different rooms. Katniss sits down on plush couch hating how good it feels, but can't help to run her fingers over it. She knows her mom and Prim aren't going to visit her first and if they did she would be mad. So she isn't surprise when Rye, Gale and Peeta come into the room. She stands up quickly and they all envelop her in a group hug.

"Why didn't you let one of us volunteer for him?" Rye says fuming and it's very rare to see him mad.

"I needed your guys here to look after everybody and you know damn well as I do I will never let anything happen to Hagan." Katniss says scowling. They nod sighing.

"Get to a bow and never let Hagan out of your sight." Gale then says.

"They might not have-" She start.

"Make them have a reason to put one in there." Gale says. She nod.

"You're smarter than them Katniss. You know how to survive. Don't let them make you a piece of their Games." Peeta says and then a Peacekeepers tells them time is up. They envelop her in a hug again.

"I love you guys. Don't let them starve." I shout as they get pulled out.

"We love you to and you know we won't" They shout out different things then the door shuts. Minutes later, Uncle Caleb comes in. He pulls her into a hug and then let's go.

"I'm so sorry." He says. Katniss looks at him confused.

"There is nothing to be sorry about." She says. He sighs.

"I promised them I wouldn't let anything happen to you guys and now look. I failed them." He says sadly.

"Hey, it's not your fault nobody could predict that this was going to happen. They would never blame you for this." She says softly holding his hand in both of hers. He nods and reaches in his pocket with his free hand.

"Here." He hands her a brown paper bag and she looks in it and see two cookies. She smiles up at him.

"You were the best Uncle anyone could have asked for." She says hugging him tightly and then adds, "Watch out for them." Knowing she means her kids he nods.

"I will and be careful." He says as his time is up.

"Love you uncle." She calls.

"Love you too." The door closes and Katniss is alone again. Her mother and Prim should be next carrying her babies, but instead she finds Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter, walking in. They aren't really friends if you don't count the times they pair up as partners and sit beside each at lunch in school. They are quiet around each other but it's always a comfortable silence.

Now as Madge's walk up to her it's with urgency.

"Can you wear this as your District token? I gave your brother one also." She says and Katniss looks down at a Mockingjay pin in her hand. Madge doesn't wait for her to respond as she clips it over my heart.

"I'm going to miss you. You were a great friend." She says sincerely and pulls Katniss into a hug. She hugs her back and whisper a thank you._ I guess we were friends._

"Bye Katniss." She then let's go and leaves the room before time is up. Katniss is a little shocked she came to visit her before she goes to her certain death, but it's soon pushed from her mind as her mom, Prim, Raven, and Skye come in. Raven and Skye has calmed down now, but Prim still has tears running down her cheeks.

"It's okay Prim." Katniss says softly sitting down and pulling her with her.

"You both have to come back." She sniffs. Katniss shakes her head.

"Prim only one comes out and you know that. Hagan will be coming home without me." She tells her. Prim nods sadly.

"I know you would do anything for us." She says sadly. Katniss nods and then turns serious.

"Listen. Gale will bring you game and whatever else you need. You can go to Uncle Caleb for anything." She tells her. Prim nods already knowing this.

"I love you." Katniss kisses her head. Prim hands her Skye and Raven.

"I love you guys. Mommies going to be going away for a while." Katniss says choking up as they sit on her lap playing with her fingers. She tries to memorize every little detail on them.

"Can you be good while mommies away?" She ask them.

"Good." Raven says. Katniss smiles nodding running her fingers through Skye's unruly blond waves.

"Yes, good. You guys be good for me." She says and kisses their heads, cheeks, and noses. She gives them back to Prim and stand up walking over to her mom.

"You can't check out on them again. Prim can't raise them by herself." She tells her looking her in the eye. Her mom nods.

"I won't. I promise." She says with tears in her eyes. Katniss looks at her and then pull her into a hug.

"Don't cry. I love you." She says and let go as their time is up. She pulls all of them into a group hug.

"I love you guys." She says as they get pulled away from her and the door slams in her face.

The door opens again and two Peacekeepers come in and direct her out of the building where she meet an emotionless Hagan standing next to and all too hyper Effie. She puts her arm around Hagan's shoulders and pull him close to her side as they walk pass people taking pictures of them before they get on the train. She pushes Hagan in front of her so he can go first and be away from them. She follow seconds later with Effie on her tail.

They both stood in awe at how the inside of the train looks and all the food that is laid out. Katniss felt disgust towards the Capitol people. They have all this food but still leave other Districts to starve. She gets pulled out of her internal rant when Effie tells them to take a seat anywhere and that she will show them to their rooms after the Reaping viewings. Effie then leaves to go and find Haymitch.

Katniss takes a seat on a plush chair close to the window and Hagan takes the seat next to her. Both their heads snap to the left where Haymitch stumbles in already half drunk. He takes a seat across from them and just stares at them.

"What?" Hagan finally asks irritated. Haymitch squints his eyes.

"You two are brother and sister?" He ask slowly with a slight slur. Katniss rolls her eyes.

"Oh my god really? What gave it away?" She ask sarcastically.

"Was it our last names?" Hagan ask dryly. Haymitch eye brows shoot up and then he burst out laughing.

"Jeez Sweetheart it was just a question. No need for the sarcasm. I see the boy takes after you." He says when he's finishes. Hagan huffs annoyed.

"Aren't you supposed to be mentoring us for these games?" He ask while Katniss stares blankly at Haymitch.

"Alright I like you two I guess I'll give you guys some advice." Haymitch says slowly starting to get serious. This catches Katniss's attention and she now stares at him expectantly.

"Stay alive." He says seriously and then burst out laughing again. Katniss and Hagan scowl at him. Hagan lurches forward and punches him in the face. Haymitch head snaps to the right from the impact and then he recovers quickly and starts to throw a punch at Hagan. Katniss sees this coming and gets up quickly catching his wrist before he can meet his target.

She then jabs his pressure points one by his underarm and the other in the bend connecting his arm and forearm. His arm goes limp.

"Don't even think about touching him." Katniss hisses standing in front of him dropping his arm. Haymitch looks at her and then at his arm trying to pick it up. He smirks at it thinking

_Well I'll be damned…._

"I like you two. So decide if you want to work together or separate. I can only save one of you." He tells them looking at them. They both sit back down.

"We'll work together." Katniss says. Hagan nods agreeing with her.

"Ok, here's the deal then. You guys don't interfere with my drinking then I'll stay sober enough help you both." Haymitch tells them. They nod.

"Deal." Hagan says. He nods and gets up starting to walk towards the door rubbing his sore chin. He stops before he leaves and turns around.

"You have a good right hook boy." He grunts smirking.

_I can't get attached to them, they'll die sooner or later._

He thinks leaving.

* * *

"What are we going to do Kat?" Hagan ask her. Katniss sighs.

"The only thing we can do is listen to Haymitch and stick together."

"I'm scared Kat. I don't want to die." Hagan whispers looking up at his big sister with tears in his eyes. Katniss gets up from her seat and kneels down in front of him and wraps her arms around his neck, combing her fingers through his blond wavy hair. She pulls back slightly to lock him in a fierce look, holding his face in her hands.

"You are not going to die if I anything to do with it. You are too young to die. Stop thinking negative. Do you understand me?" He nods letting a tear slip down his cheek. She wipes it away and kisses his forehead.

"Dinner is ready. Come along tributes." Effie comes in and ruins their moment. They both stand up and follow her into the dining room. They sit opposite of Effie as people serve them their food. Hagan and Katniss's eyes are wide at how much food is on their plate now.

This would take weeks for Katniss to hunt and gather everything to make a meal like this and this was just the first course! After eating all the food and they could help but admit grudgingly that it was the most delicious meal that they ever had; but they were sick to their stomachs for over boarding it. Both of them looking a little green.

"I told you both to pace yourselves." Effie scolds them, but then brightens up.

"Let's go into the living room and watch the recap."

She gets up and starts walking toward the living room. They follow her and sit the farthest away from her. She turns on the TV as Haymitch stumbles into the room plopping down next to Katniss. Effie makes a sound of disapproval about him missing dinner and being late for the recap.

Everybody's attention turns back to the screen as they as they see other reaping's, the names called. They look at the faces of the kids who will be their competition. A few stand out in Katniss's mind. A monstrous boy, Jason, who lunges forward to volunteer from District 2; he has some crazy look in his eye that she doesn't like. His district partner Clove; she was little about Katniss's height maybe shorter with straight black hair and narrow hazel eyes. She didn't look crazy but she had a creepy smile on her face. The other person is a little 12-year-old girl, Rue. She's the same age as Hagan and nobody volunteered for the little girl with her big brown eyes and dark-colored skin. She was very much like Prim in size and it hurt her to even look at the screen anymore because of the resemblance.

Hagan and she could barely watch their own recap. You could hear the desperation in her voice as she volunteered for her holding her two precious babies close to her. Oh how she missed them so much now. To feel their weight on her body and run her hands through their soft silky hair. It didn't help at how much they resembled Cato so much. She wanted to break down and cry right now at how she will never be able to see them again. Abundantly she stood up as the recap was ending.

"Can you please show us to our rooms?" She asked Effie who looked startled at her urgency.

"Sure dear. Right this way." she begins to walk out showing them the way.

"Sleep tight you two." Haymitch called then took long pull of his clear liquor. Hagan rolled his eyes at him and followed the two women out of the room.

"Katniss this is your room and Hagan your room in right across from hers. Remember that tomorrow we arrive in the Capitol in the morning. So please make yourselves presentable." Effie says walking away with her heels clicking behind her. Katniss rolled her eyes at Effie's last request and then turn to face Hagan. He wrapped his arms around her skinny waist and looked up at her.

"I don't want to be alone tonight." He said knowing he would feel lonely without his twin sister to sleep beside him through the night. Katniss smiled down at him and softly said,

"You can sleep with me, but take a shower in your room and then come in to mine. Okay?" he nodded and unwrapped his arms. He turned around and went into his room without another word. She slipped into her and gaped at how big it was. It was the size of her house if not more!

She shook her head to get out of the trance she was in and walked into a big bathroom that had a shower. She had never taken a shower or had fresh running water at her command. So when she got in the shower she didn't know how to turn it on, but with a lot of button hitting she found the water button and it sprayed her like a waterfall and she relaxes under the water and finally let herself grieve at what is to come and what she had to do.

She gives this time to finally break down and cry knowing no one can see her in her time of weakness. She lets out heartbreaking sobs knowing Skye and Rave will not know their Mom that well to remember her. She only cries for a minute until she finally pulls herself together and washes herself. She turns the shower off and steps on plate and it dries her instantly.

She walks out of her run naked because she forgot to bring clothes with her. She goes to a big closet and picks out plain flannel shorts and white loose t-shirt not even bothering to put any underwear on under the clothes. She has more things to worry about than that.

She closes the closet door and turns the lights out moving to the soft bed. She laid her head on the soft pillow as she got under the thick silk covers. She never felt anything so soft than right now as she lays in it. A knock at the door startles her, then she remembers its Hagan.

"Come in." She calls facing the door. She hears the door open letting in a little light and then it shuts. The bed dips as Hagan gets in and under the covers next to her. He sighs and moves his body closer to Katniss to feel her body heat. She wraps her arms around him and kiss his head.

"Goodnight Hay." She says soothingly.

"Night Kat." He says back and then he's out just like that too exhausted to stay up any longer. Today's event has taken its toll on him. Katniss watches him sleep. His face slack and the worry lines on his forehead disappearing making him look peaceful and younger than 12. She smooth's his hair out of his face and kiss his head one more time before she goes to sleep herself.

* * *

Cato sits down with his tributes after eating to see the recaps of the reaping's. He's not happy that Clove volunteered at only 14. He scolded her once they got on the train. She just rolled her eyes and tuned him out. He was however glad the District psycho had volunteered this year. He was crazy and known for raping girls any age around the District. Cato refuses to mentor him for anything.

The beginning of the reaping is boring. Nothing about District One's tribute's stand out just a dumb blond with green eyes and a tall brown-haired skinny boy lacking muscle. Jason comments on the blond girl with a glint in his eye.

They start getting to the lower Districts and Cato pays more and more attention until all his attention on the screen by the time District 12 comes on.

Please don't let Katniss be reaped this year. He thinks.

He begs in is mind as their escort Effie starts the reaping. She calls_ 'Primrose Everdeen'_ and he swears his heart stops at that moment. He already knows what's going to happen now. He knows Katniss to well to not know what is going through her mind right now.

They hear a strangle cry coming from the crowd and the camera goes to crowd and see a skinny brunette girl with wide hips and medium breast and she has two kids that look only about one on each of her hips. Cato knows it's Katniss's but he doesn't know who those kids belong to and why she looks so different.

"Prim!" She shouts and Cato stops breathing as she volunteers for her sister and he feels someone just knocked the air out of him as the two kids shout_ 'Mamma'_ as Rye takes them away from her.

_Holy….Shit…._

He thinks trying to figure out who those kids belong to. The little girl has straight brunette hair and big blue eyes and fair tanned skin and the boy has the same skin but has unruly wavy blond hair and bright grey eyes. You can tell that they are twins and they stand out in the district.

Cato watches as Katniss turns all her emotions off and mounts the stage numbly. He can practically feel how pissed and scared she is because he feels it to and it's a very, very rare feeling for him to feel. He can feel Brutus, the other mentor, eyeing him but he doesn't dare take his eyes off of the screen in front of them. Brutus and Haymitch are the only people who knows Katniss and how he feels about her.

He feels like he's going to pass out when her little 12-year-old brother is called and nobody volunteers for him. He knows Katniss made Gale, Peeta, and Rye to not step up. You could see the hard glared she was giving but nobody but he knew who she was glaring at.

_Dear God no…She can't…._

Cato couldn't believe that he was going to have to watch his girl and brother go into the games together.

_This is just sick!_

"I call dibs on the girl from 12. I want to kill her in my own way." Jason says smiling and there's that glint in his eyes again. Cato was about to pounce on him for saying such a thing and Brutus senses this and tells them to go to their rooms. Clove stubbornly stays and sits next to Cato who has his head in his hands breathing hard. Once they hear the door shut to Jason's room Brutus starts talking but its low knowing the walls have ears.

"Are you okay?"

Cato looks up at him and scowls.

"No I'm not fucking okay. You know what she means to me. You know that as well as I do that she's as good as dead." He hisses feeling hot stingy tears in the back of his eyes. Clove looks confused between the two.

"What are you talking about?" She ask.

"Katniss." Brutus answers.

"Why does any of this have to do with her?" She ask still confused.

"Cato and she have a thing." Brutus says not wanting to say too much. Clove makes an 'O' shape with her with her mouth finally putting the pieces together.

"So…Those kids with her are Cato's?" she ask slowly. Brutus shrugs not knowing what to say.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her in so long those could be anybody's." Cato says frustrated and starts pacing the room while running a hand through his hair to calm him down.

"Calm down boy and just talk to her." Brutus grunts. Cato sighs and nod already stopped pacing.

"Alright tomorrow after the Tribute Parade." He says.

"Good. Now both of you get some sleep." Brutus dismisses them.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I hope you guys like it. **_

_**Now it's time to answer some questions from my reviewers and address their opinions. **_

_**First I know it seems a little awkward for Katniss to get pregnant at 14 but come on now. This is a fiction story. I can basically come up with anything absurd. Plus you can get pregnant once you start your cycle and I have known people that got pregnant at age 13. Young right? **_

_**Secondly I'm not going to go too in depth about Cato and why he was even in District 12 when he was younger. So I'm just going to tell you here. He went to other district because he was one of the special people in District 2 in there training center. so basically District 2's training center took the ones who they thought were special and would win the Games easily on a field trip to the other district to see how they lived and such. **_

_**Yes Cato is Snow's grandson, but he wasn't born and raised in the Capitol because his dad is from District 2 and his mom moved there with him. **_

_**That's is all I will give you because the other stuff will come out in later chapters that I already written.**_

_**Next update will be next Friday. **_

_**Thank you for everyone who reviewed, liked, and follow this story. **_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. **_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Katniss get up. We have a big, big day ahead of us. Remember to look presentable." Effie says through the door. Her high chirps wake up Hagan and Katniss from their strangely peaceful slumber. They both sigh not wanting to get up and face the real world. Katniss makes the first move to get out of bed, detangling herself from Hagan. He does the same and walks to the bedroom door to go to his room to shower and get dress for the day.

Katniss goes into the bathroom and takes a shower. She gets sprayed by multiple scents from pressing the wrong buttons, so now she's going to be smelling like lemon, vanilla, and roses all day. She steps out onto the blowing drying plate. Then she goes to her closet getting a match set of black underwear and a bra that can actually fit her breast, a pair of black silk pants , a green silk top and a pair of black flats. She takes the Mockingjay pin from her reaping dress and pins it on her top over her heart.

She goes to the door while braiding her hair to the side and then walks to eat breakfast. She finds Haymitch nursing a hangover and Hagan talking to him while eating some bread. They look up when they notice her.

"Ah Sweetheart, you finally showed up. I was starting to think it was just going to be me and the boy here. Effie is making sure everything is on schedule." He says sarcastically. She rolls her eyes at him.

"Morning Kat." Hagan smiles at her. She smiles back and kisses his head. She takes a plate and starts filling it and then sits next to Hagan who is sitting across from Haymitch and starts eating. They are quiet for a while until she notices that they aren't going to start talking until she's done with her food.

"You don't have to wait until I'm done eating. I can eat and listen at the same time." She rolls her eyes at Haymitch.

"As you wish Sweetheart." Haymitch says sarcastically.

"So what's going to happen today?" Hagan ask trying to get them back on the topic.

"Well, you both are going to be taken to the remake room when we make it to the Capitol. You will meet your stylist and your prep team. They are going to make you look appealing to the crowd. So don't resist anything they do to you. Got it?" He then ask taking out a flask and pours clear liquid in his coffee cup.

"But-" Katniss starts to protest but he slams the flask down on the table.

"Don't resist. You said we had a deal so listen to what the hell I'm telling you." He hisses. She nods sighing not liking the dreadful feeling in her gut about what today leads ahead.

"You both need the Capitol people to like you. You know what Sponsors are?" He ask. They shake their heads.

"Well when you're in the arena and you're dying, sick, or starving they can save you by sponsoring you money to send you a gift. So they need to like you to sponsor you." He says taking a sip of his thinned coffee.

"It won't be hard for people to like the boy, but you Sweetheart, need to work on your people skills." He smirks. Katniss scowls at him.

"See like that. How do you expect them to like to look at you when you have that nasty scowl on your face all the time?" Haymitch laughs and her scowl darkens.

"I don't need them to like me. I don't plan on winning." Katniss states and that shuts Haymitch up and makes Hagan turn to look at her. He knew she would give her life for his, but hearing her say it makes it all too real.

"Well then get sponsors for the boy. You need all the money you can get." Haymitch says as the room goes dark. Hagan gets up and goes over to the window as they go in a tunnel that leads to the Capitol. Katniss goes to the window standing beside him as they get out of the tunnel and finally see what the Capitol looks like.

They gasp in awe and how colorful and clean it looks never having seen it before except on TV because it's illegal to travel to other district unless you're told to. The look of awe turns into disgust at how the Capital people look and dress. But then they remember these people could have a lot of money and be able to sponsor them, so they put on a fake smile and wave at the crazy, colorful, screaming people on the outside.

Katniss looks back at Haymitch who nods in approval and continues to sip his thinned coffee.

Hagan and Katniss get separated by their prep team and they strip and start plucking them to make them more 'Human' as her prep team puts it. Katniss grits her teeth as they remove all the hair from her body that isn't on her head. They chatter and smile talking about this upcoming Games and where they will be to watch it. Katniss wants to retort back when they ask her stupid questions, but she bites her tongue remembering what Haymitch said.

_This is for Hagan._

She chants in her head over and over as they put creams on her raw skin and hair. She's glad and relieved when they are done as they said 'making her beauty base zero.' And went to get her stylist Cinna. Katniss hopes Hagan didn't have to go through the torture she went through.

She feels vulnerable standing in a middle of an empty room naked. She has the urge to cross her arms to hide her chest that doesn't fit her skinny figure. The only reason she has big breast is because she carried twins and both of them were breast-fed until they could afford to get at least one baby bottle. She hopes this stylist won't make her naked for the parade. She wouldn't be able to bear showing her body like that.

She hears the door open and her stylist Cinna comes in. Katniss is perplex at how normal he looks. He looks young probably around 24 and has caramel skin, his brown hair cropped and styled, and the only thing that makes him look like he's from the Capitol is the gold eyeliner he wears. She's still cautious of him though just because he looks normal doesn't mean anything. She stands stiffly as he inspects her and then hands her a robe. She quickly puts it on to get a little dignity back.

"Hello Katniss. I'm Cinna, you stylist." He says in a quiet voice somewhat lacking in the Capitol's affectations.

"Hello." she ventures cautiously. Then adds, "You're knew aren't you? I don't think I've seen you before," Most stylist are familiar, constants in the ever-changing pool of tributes. Some have been around for years.

"Yes, this is my first year in the Games," says Cinna.

"So they gave you District Twelve," Katniss says dryly. Newcomers generally end up with them, the least desirable district. No surprise there.

"No, I ask for District 12." He says without further explanation.

He directs her to another room with plush chairs and he sits opposite from her pressing a button and two plates full of food come up from a table for the both of them. She takes her plate and starts eating her lunch.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." Cinna says and it makes Katniss stop eating and look up at him.

"Most people just congratulate me." She muses putting her plate on the table. Cinna shakes his head.

"Well don't count on me doing that. I think someone as brave and beautiful as you shouldn't be dressed in some stupid costume. As you know, it's customary to reflect the favor of the district." He says.

For the opening ceremonies, you're supposed to wear something that suggests your district's principal industry. District 11, agriculture. District 4, fishing. District 3, factories. This means that coming from District 12, Hagan and her will be in some kind of coal miner's get up. Since the baggy miner's jumpsuits are not particularly becoming, their tributes usually end up in skimpy outfits and hats with headlamps. One year, their tributes were stark naked and covered in black powder to represent coal dust. It's always dreadful and does nothing to win favor with the crowds. Katniss prepares herself for the worst.

"So I'll be in a coal miner's outfit?" She ask, hoping it won't be indecent.

"Not exactly. You see, my partner Portia, and I think that coal miner thing's very overdone. No one will remember you in that. And we both see it as our jobs to make the District 12 tributes unforgettable," says Cinna.

_I'll be naked for sure_, she thinks.

"So rather than focus on the coal mining itself, we're going to focus on the coal," says Cinna. "And what do we do with coal? We burn it."

"You're not afraid of fire, are you, Katniss?" He sees her expression and grins.

A few hours later, she is dressed in what will either be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. She in a simple black unitard that covers her from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boots laced up to her knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and a matching headpiece that defines this costume. Cinna plans to light it on fire just before the chariots roll out onto the streets.

Her face is clear of make-up and her hair in her usual style that she wears because Cinna wants everybody to recognize her when she's in the arena as_ 'Katniss, the girl on fire.'_ Katniss thinks Cinna is turning into a madman.

Katniss sees Hagan dress in the same costume as she is and his stylist, Portia, and her team go with him in. It's sick how everyone is absolutely giddy to show them off to the Capitol people who decides if they want them to live or die in the arena. Cinna is the only one who seem a bit weary as he accepts congratulations. Katniss knew she liked him for some reason.

They are all moving down to the bottom of the Remake Center, which is essentially a gigantic stable. The open ceremonies are about to start. Pairs of tributes are being loaded into their chariots pulled by teams of four horses. Katniss and Hagan's are pitch black representing coal. The animals are well-trained, so no one need to guide them. Cinna and Portia direct them into the chariot and carefully arrange their body positions, the drape of their capes, before moving off to consult with each other.

"Hey are you okay?" Katniss ask Hagan bumping her hip into his. He lets out a nervous chuckle.

"Yea, I'm fine just don't want to burn to death." He says making Katniss laugh out loud. The other tributes by them look over at her and she scowls at all of them until they turn around.

"You and I both buddy." She says to Hagan.

"Isn't Haymitch supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?" He ask looking around to see if he can find him. Katniss nods.

"Yea, he is. Where is he anyway-" Katniss says but gets distracted by Hagan repeatedly tapping her arm.

"What?" She ask looking at him, but she finds him not looking at her but somewhere in the distance. He points to where he is looking at and Katniss follows his finger and she inhales sharply.

Cato.

It's been a year and couple of months since they last seen each other. She honestly doesn't know why he never came back to visit her. All though it hurt the time they spent a part it hurts more that they finally see each other when she's going to her death. This is not the way she wanted to see him. He doesn't look much different, only more muscular and a little taller than before but that's all that changed. He's not looking at them but talking to his girl tribute smiling. Katniss feels her face turning into a scowl and glares at the girls back. She turns her head sharply not wanting to look anymore and faces forward wanting to get this over.

"Do you think he remembers us?" Hagan ask looking at her. She shrugs but inside her head she thinks,

_He better remembers us. I have his kids._

"Probable if he cares." She says instead.

"How do you think he will react when he finds out he has 2 kids? And how come he never visited us anymore?" He ask glancing at him again.

"Don't know." She says with an edge to her voice. _Why did he never come back to visit us. I mean I know he said it would be our last time seeing each, but he's fucking Snow's grandson. How could he not find a way to see us?_ And then she gets a horrible thought. _What if he wants nothing to do with them? They will never get to meet their Dad, or get to know him._

The opening music begins and everybody gets in their places. Massive doors slide open revealing the crowd-lined streets. The ride last about twenty minutes where it will end up in the city circle and they will welcome them, play the anthem, and escort them into the Tribute Center. Where they will be staying until they go into the game.

The tributes from District 1 ride out in a chariot pulled by snow-white horses. They are sprayed painted silver, in tasteful tunics glittering with jewels. District 1 makes luxury items for the Capitol. You can hear the roar of the crowd. They are always their favorites.

District 2 gets into position to follow then. Katniss catches a glimpse of Cato helping the girl tribute on and glares at the scene. In no time at all they are approaching the door and Cinna comes up to them with a lighted torch.

"Ready?" He smiles. They nod hesitantly and he sets their capes on fire. They wait to feel the burning sensation but only feel tingling. They smile at him relieved. He smiles back relieved too.

"Remember, heads high. Smile. They're going to love you!" He exclaims jumping off the chariot. They start moving and are out the doors into the square. Katniss feels Hagan trembling so she grabs his hand. He smiles gratefully at her and tightened his grip on her hand.

The crowd started going crazy at the sight of them. They felt excitement surge through them and their smile brighten. Katniss got an idea and raised her and Hagan's clasped hands up in the air for everybody to see. The people's screams got louder and started to throw roses at them chanting their names and district number. Hagan and Katniss waves, smiling so hard that it makes their cheeks hurt, and blows kisses. It was sick and amusing to them as they watch the Capitol reach over one another trying to catch their kisses. Some of the other tributes glare at them for stealing all the attention from them. They all loop the City Circle once until coming to a stop and the President came out to do his speech.

Katniss notice the camera's on them for a good amount of time and she see that she looks radiant like you would get burned if you touched her. She also notice President Snow glancing at them every now and then during his speech, but she tunes him out and looks at the other tributes. She catches Jason from District 2 staring at her with that damn glint in his eye. He smirks at her and winks before turning around. Katniss shivers not liking how he looks at her. It's like he's undressing her with his eyes wanting to devour her whole.

The chariots pull into the Training Center where their mentors and stylist are waiting for them. Effie is practically bouncing up and down when they rush up to them to help them down.

"You guys did wonderful. You will have plenty of sponsors this year!" She exclaims finally having a descent district to show off. Cinna and Portia extinguish their fire as Haymitch comes up to them.

"Well Sweetheart, they don't hate you." He smirks. Katniss rolls her eyes at him.

"Whatever Haymitch, you sure you should be this close to me. I wouldn't want to use pressure points on you again." She smirks. He rolls his eyes this time.

"You caught me off guard. So don't-" He looks over her shoulder finding the boy tribute from District 2 looking at her again. Katniss follows his gaze and see's Cato smack him upside the head. Jason glares at him and walks towards the elevators and gets in leaving. Cato catches Katniss's eye right before Haymitch pushes her toward the elevators.

They get in but right before the doors close a muscular hand slips between them opening them back up. Cato, Brutus and their girl tribute gets on. Hagan not being able to contain himself as he flings himself onto Cato. Cato looks surprise by this and catches him.

"Cato!" Hagan exclaims. "I missed you. How come you never came back to visit?" Cato smiles a little petting his hair.

"I missed you too buddy and I haven't had the time being a Victor and all." He laughs slightly hopping Hagan would believe his lie. Hagan seems oblivious to it and just beams up at him letting him go and moving back over to Katniss who just stands stiffly not knowing what do as Cato stares at her expectantly. Good thing the elevator stops on his floor and they get off before it gets awkward for them.

Once they are on their floor Haymitch turn to both of them.

"Both of you follow me." He says and turns around walking ahead. They follow confused. He leads them outside on the roof were the wind blows.

"What is it Haymitch?" Katniss ask.

"Look Katniss I know that you have a thing with Cato, that your family knows him, and that the twins you had are his." Haymitch states bluntly. Katniss gapes at him.

"How would you know that?" She ask when she regains her composure. He rolls his eyes.

"I'm the only Victor in that district. Plus the night when he came there for his Victory Tour he had to stay the night at my house. So of course I heard him leave in the middle of the night, so I followed him into the woods and what do you know, you were in his arms sleep by the time I found him." Haymitch smirks. Katniss cheeks burn in having been caught that night.

"Does he know, that you know?" She ask. He nods.

"Of course he knows that I know. I drilled it out of him when he came back in the morning before he left." He grunts.

"Okay, so what? You going to tell on us or something?" She ask raising an eyebrow at him. He lets out a belly laugh.

"Don't ask stupid questions Sweetheart. No, I'm not going to use it against you. I'm going help you use it against Snow and the people. They would love a Star-Crossed lover's scenario and it's going to be like a punch in the face to Snow." He chuckles.

"So this would get us more sponsors." Hagan ask him. Haymitch nods.

"Yeah a lot more." He grunts.

"OK, so let everybody know Cato and I are together. Seems easy enough." Katniss says. Haymitch nods.

"Good, now go change and go down to the 2nd floor so you can talk to him. I'll tell everybody that you wanted to go to bed early at dinner." He says walking toward the door. They follow him and go into their room.

Katniss showers and puts on a pair of sleep shorts and t-shirt. She leaves her long hair out flowing down her back_ (that would have been down to her butt if her prep team didn't cut it to the middle of her back)_ since she took out her braid in the shower. She walks out of her room and down the hall quietly as everybody gets ready for dinner and goes into the elevator, pressing the number 2 button.

The elevator doors slide open at the second level and she gets off and finds everyone sitting down eating dinner. Jason is the first to notice her and smirks at the sight of her.

"I knew you would come and find me sooner or later sweet cheeks." He calls out to her cockily. She scowls at him and moves to where they are. Everybody stops eating as she walks bare footed to them with her breast jiggling with her every step. She picks up a cutting knife and twirls it in her hand as she says,

"I didn't come for you. I came for him." She points the knife at Cato whose looking at her chest, but then adverts his eyes up to meet hers. "So don't flatter yourself." She adds throwing a smirk at him still twirling the knife in her hand. Jason smirks at her and lets his eyes travel down her body and linger a bit on her nipples that show through her shirt.

"I would love to give that body of yours a test run." He breathes out with that glint in his eye. He starts to get up and walks towards her.

"Jason, back off her." Cato says through grit teeth as he gets up to. He comes around to Katniss's side and puts an arm around her waist pulling her close trying to hide her body from preying eyes.

"She's mine," He growls dangerously. Jason shrugs and sits back down and continues to eat his food.

"For now that is. But she's going to be free in the arena." He chuckles. Cato glares at him but his eyes go wide as a knife lodges it's self in between Jason's fingers.

"Watch it Jason or I might not be so lenient next time." Katniss growls and then smirks at his shocked face. Cato pulls her down the hall and into his room. He turns around and glares at her.

"Really Katniss, you come down here dressed like that?" He hisses gesturing to her clothes. She shrugs.

"I saw nothing wrong with it." She says confused. Cato lets out a chuckle because she doesn't know the effect she has on people especially him.

"Never mind Katniss. Just next time wear a bra or something so your breast won't stick out for god's sake." He says covering his eyes. Katniss looks down at her chest just now noticing what's he's talking about.

"Oh," she says and blushes feeling embarrassed that everybody saw her like that. She crosses her arm over her chest to hide her nipples that you could clearly see through her shirt. Cato drops his hands from his face and looks at her.

"Why did you come here?" He ask her. Katniss stares at him blankly.

"That's all you have to say to me when we haven't seen each other for over a year. Why didn't you ever come back?" She then blows up throwing her arms in the air feeling hurt. Cato flinches just now realizing how bad he sounds.

"Katniss I'm sorry I didn't realize. Sorry." He fumbles over his words. "I couldn't come back without Granddad knowing where I was going. I may be his only grandson, which you may think he cares for but he doesn't. Not really. You know he was the one that sent me into the Games. He said it will make his reputation look better and show the Capitol people his grandson wants to be just like him and that I wanted to make him proud. I told you that night we couldn't see each other after that because I didn't want him to hurt you if I didn't do what he asked of me. So I had to cut ties with you and your family even though it was the most painful thing I had to do."

She stares at him stunned and grateful that he protected her and her family from Snow as long as he could. Although she is a little mad that he didn't tell her that night and just decided to leave her out of the loop. She looks down at her feet not being good with words or if words are enough to actually thank him. His eyes lock on the bracelet around her wrist that he gave her when they were kids.

"You still wear that?" He ask quietly after a tense minute. She looks up at him and see where he's staring at and shrugs.

"I never took it off." She says looking down at her wrist. He moves over to her slowly and takes her face in his hands bring it up to look at him.

"I thought you would have forgotten about me after a couple of months." He whisper moving his thumb across her cheek. She shrugs giving a weak chuckle.

"You're kind of hard to forget about Hothead," She uses his nickname she gave him when they were kids because he would get mad over the littlest things and his face would turn red. Cato's face breaks out into a beaming smile at not being called that in so long.

"Same goes for you Spitfire." She breaks out into a smile and raises on her toes as she throws her arms around his muscular neck. Cato crashes his lips to hers in a longing, passionate kiss that takes both of their breaths away. Katniss runs her fingers through his hair as he moves his hands away from her face and down to her wide hips. He breaks the kiss needing air and rest his head against hers.

"I still love you." He whispers rubbing her sides. She opens her eyes having been in a daze.

"I love you too." She smiles kissing his nose.

"Good because I couldn't tell by the death glares that you kept giving me in the opening ceremonies." He chuckles. She blushes at how stupid she was to be jealous of his girl tribute being able to talk to him and not her. She looks down at her bare feet again.

"I wasn't glaring at you I was glaring at the girl." She mumbles unwrapping her arms from around his neck to play with the hem of her sleep shirt.

"Who Clove?" Cato ask confused._ What did Clove do to her?_

"Yes her." Katniss mumbles turning even redder. Cato takes her red face in his hands again making her look at him.

"What did she do to you?" He ask.

"Nothing, it's stupid. I just got mad she got to talk to you all the time and I didn't" She sighs adverting her eyes. Now that she said it out loud it was stupid of her to get mad over something like that. Cato laughs out loud taking his hands off her face. She turns more red but not because of embarrassment, but anger at Cato laughing at her.

"Cato, it's not funny." She scowls at him crossing her arms pouting a little.

"Yes it is…Who…..who would have thought**_ The_** Katniss Everdeen would get jealous…and over something as little as that!" He exclaims in between his laughs. She glares at him.

"Well maybe I should just leave since you think it's so funny." She says and stomps over to the door. Before she even gets to the door handle Cato catches her small waist in his big hands pulling her back up against him until her back is touching his muscular chest.

"I'm sorry. It's funny how you can get so jealous over the littlest things when you know my heart belongs to you." He whispers in her ear and then kisses her neck. She shivers not realizing how much she missed his lips on her. She turns around in his arm locking her arms around his neck again.

"I'm sorry for overreacting." She sighs and pecks his lips. Cato doesn't want the sensation of her soft plump lips on his to end, so he pulls her body until its flush against his feeling every inch of her body. He dips his head down to hers and captures her lips in a slow passionate kiss that makes her knees go weak. He bites down on her bottom lip making her yelp in pain, but it soon turns into a moan as he sweeps his tongue across it to sooth the pain.

Her moans spur him on as he licks at her lips wanting her to open her mouth to him. She does without hesitation and his tongue thrust in her mouth seeking out her tongue and exploring her mouth after so long of dreaming what it felt like again. They fight for dominance but Katniss gives up letting him win, wanting someone to take charge over her for once. Cato's hands move from her waist down into her sleep shorts finding that she isn't wearing underwear either and he gropes her bare ass making her feel how hard she's making him and to let her know she still has an effect on him knowing she's the only one who can get him like this.

She moan loudly in his mouth making him kiss her harder and pick her up with his hands still on her ass and she locks her skinny legs around his muscular waist and grinds into his hard-on. He groans and starts walking them to his bed wanting to have his way with her, but just as he's about to throw her on his bed and devour her, which she so wants so badly, she remembers why she came here to talk to him in the first place. So she stills her hips and breaks the hot kiss regretfully.

"Cato, wait." She says opening her eyes to look into his dark blue lustful eyes.

"What? Can't it wait till after?" He ask trailing kisses down her neck. "I've missed you so much. You don't know how long I've waited to get you back in my arms." She moan distracted by his breath on her neck, but she stop herself.

"I've missed you too, but it can't. Please Cato." She pleads wanting him to listen to her. He sighs against her neck pulling back to look at her.

"What?" He whines not wanting to stop.

"I said I came here for a reason." She states again. He nods for her to continue.

"Haymitch says he knows about us and wants us to show the Capitol people that we are together so we can get more sponsors for Hagan." She explains. He nods putting her back down on the ground as he sits on his bed, but he still keeps his hands in her sleep shorts pulling her in between his legs.

"So you want all the sponsors to go to Hagan and none for yourself?" He ask sadly. She nods.

"Yes, and you know why. I can't let him die in that arena. He's too young. He deserves to live and I will do everything in my power to make that happen. I'm sorry Cato but I won't be coming out of that arena if that means Hagan has to die. I wouldn't be about to live with myself" She explains holding his face in her hands. He sighs nodding his head.

"Is it selfish of me to want you all to myself?" He ask. She gives him a small smile and shakes her head.

"No it's not." She chuckles running one of her hands through his hair. Cato closes his eye, but opens back up and look up at her when he remembers what happened at her reaping.

"Kat, can I ask you something?" He ask cautiously. She gives a hesitant nod at his sudden change.

"At your reaping who were those two kids you were holding?" He ask her slowly. He feels her body stiffen and her hands stills in his hair. She stays quiet for a minute trying to find the right answer.

"….um….," That's the only word that comes to her blank mind. Cato withdraws his hands from her ass and brings them up to draw soothing circles on her hips.

"You can tell me Kat. I promise I won't get mad." He says softly. She sighs not wanting to tell him unless Haymitch tells her its okay. Plus after what she heard about Snow she doesn't want him to know about them.

"I can't tell you." She flinches as she says this already feeling him withdraw his hands and his face turning into a frown.

"What do you mean you can't tell me? Are they mine or not?" He says starting to get angry as blotches of red appear on his cheeks.

_Was she cheating on me while I was gone?_ He thinks to himself.

"I just can't tell you okay. Can you just leave it at that?" She pleads with him. He stands up making her step back from him.

"No I can't just leave it at that. I want to know are they mine or not?!" He's shouting now throwing his hands up in the air. She flinches at his volume wondering how it turned from passionate and longing to angry and frustration. The air around them is tense as he waits for her to answer him. She's not looking at him but at the ground fidgeting trying to decide if she should just tell him, but then what would Snow do to her babies if he found out that he had great grandchildren from her, _oh_, he would have a field day with that information. She gulps knowing the walls have ears.

"Well are they?" Cato ask still fuming. Katniss shakes her head sorrowfully knowing what she has to do and tell him.

"No, Cato, they're not…..not yours." She chokes on her words hating she has to lie to him. She can't look him in the face or he will know she's lying to him. She was never a good liar. She hears his sharp intake as he lets what she says sink in.

_Not Mine…..Not Mine…._ His mind chants at him hauntingly.

"How can you say they're not mine?! You mean to tell me that after I left, you went and fucked somebody else and had his kids?!" He shouts at her not being able to control his anger. His whole face is beet red now and it's not from embarrassment. She nods regretfully shrinking under his stare trying to think of something to say.

"I just missed you so much that…that I turned to someone else to take my mind off you…it hurt too much to think about you." She stumbled over her words cursing herself for not being so good with words like her cousin Peeta.

"Got damn it Katniss, why would you do this to me?" He ask desperately, deflating. She shrugs hating the sound of disappointment in his voice.

"I didn't mean to sle-sleep with him I-I- we just got carried away and one thing lead to another." The lies just keep tumbling from her mouth as she still doesn't look at him. Tears threaten to spill from her eyes the more she has to lie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I-I just- are you mad at me?" She ask not knowing what to say as she looks up and meets his eyes. She can't take the hurt, sad look in them and it makes her tears fall from her eyes not being about to control them anymore.

"No, I'm not mad. Pissed and disappointed yeah." He sighs not knowing what to do. He really wished they were his kids. He sits back down on his bed and puts his head in his hands not being able to look at her anymore. She hugs herself with one arm as the other tries to contain the sobs that threaten to come up.

"I'm sorry...Cato…I'll just leave you alone for now….." She tells him giving one more glance at his defeated posture and knows that it will forever be burned into her brain. She leaves his room closing his door silently and walks down the hall to the elevator holding herself from falling apart as she gets on knowing he isn't going to come and stop her from leaving. The elevator closes and moves up to her floor.

She gets out and finds Haymitch in front of her. He's been waiting for her to get back so he could know how it went, but when she sees him she collapses in his arm trying to muffle her sobs in his shoulder not wanting to wake anybody. He's surprise by this for a minute but snaps out of it as he pulls her up to the roof knowing they can't talk right there. Once they get to the roof he peels her from him and demands her to tell him what happened.

"He…..he asked if…if they were his….and I…I…I told him no…." She tells him hyperventilating.

"Okay, Sweetheart calm down because I don't know what you're saying." He grunts at her. She nods trying to control her breathing. Once she gets it under control she tells him again.

"He asked if they were his and I told him no." She says more clearly sniffling. He looks at her confused, but then it dawns on him.

"Skye and Raven?" He ask making sure he's right. She nods looking at him suspiciously.

"How do you know their names? Nobody knows their names that is outside of my family." She tells him. He shrugs.

"I know more things than you think." He says simply. She nods looking out into the bright lights of the Capitol City.

"Well yeah those are their names." She confirms for him. He nods.

"Ok, so why did you lie to him?" He ask still confused but then he can already read her mind since they are so much alike. She sniffs.

"I couldn't. Not when people could have listened to our conversation. If Snow found out he has great grandchildren from me while I'm in the Games there's no telling what he could do to them. He would have a field day with that information. Plus Cato told me that the reason he didn't come back to see me after that night was because of him. He didn't want Snow to hurt me or my family so he said he had to cut ties with me for my own good even though it was painful for him." She explains throwing her hands up. He nods understanding.

"You did the right thing keeping it from him. Don't tell anyone he's the father." He says. "For now" She nods.

"Okay. Hey Haymitch, can you do me a favor?" She ask sadly. He nods already knowing what is coming.

"Anything Sweetheart." He sighs needing a drink.

"You know I'm not coming back as well as I do, so when the Hunger Games are over and Hagan comes back as Victor. Tell Cato the truth and tell him I'm sorry." She says. He nods sadly.

"Okay Sweetheart." He says. "Let's go to bed."

She nods and they walk down and go their separate ways to their rooms. When Katniss gets in hers she already finds Hagan in her bed fast asleep. So she slides in next to him emotionally drained and goes to sleep herself.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I hope you all liked it and that I explained everything that made you confused. Thank you for those who reviewed. I appreciate it greatly. **_

_**There is more to come as this story continues on. So please stick with me and I promise you that this my best work yet!**_

_**If any of you are reading or waiting on me to update 'In Hiding' I would like to say I am sorry that I kept you wait for soo long. I just lost inspiration of it and I still need time to create the last few chapters. So that story is on a hiatus. But don't worry it won't be long before I eventually return to it and finish it. **_

_**Anyway, next update depends on how many reviews I can get. So please review if you want another update really soon. I already have it typed up just needs to be edited by my beta, which I would like to thank for helping me.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_

_**Disclaimers: I don't own the Hunger Games trilogy.**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"What can you both do?" Haymitch ask Katniss and Hagan at breakfast the next morning. Today is training day and it will be for the next 2 days and then after that they get a break and then they have an interview the day before they are supposed to go into the arena.

Hagan is full of nerves not knowing what to expect and keeps fidgeting in his seat next to Katniss who is dress like him; tight black spandex, a tight black fitted shirt with their district number on their shoulders, and combat boots that go up to their shins. She wears an emotionless face and sits quiet as Haymitch tells them what to do because she is still messed up about what happened last night.

_Is he going to help us still?_

_Does he still love me?_

_Does he hate me?_

_Why can't he just understand?_

_Why does everything bad happen to me?_

All these things keep running through her head and she can't make them stop and she wants them to stop. She already feels a headache coming on in the back of her head and that won't do her any good because when she gets headaches everybody is on her bad side. She needs to calm down before they have to go to training or she won't be able to focus. She grits her teeth and puts her head in her hands trying to stop the pounding in it by rubbing her temples.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Haymitch ask in his concerned voice which is rare because he never cares about anyone because everyone he starts or does care about ends up dead. So he can't afford to care for anyone, but Katniss, Hagan and her family is hard not to care about.

"Huh?" Katniss ask trying to focus on him, but her eyes are blurry from keeping them tightly closed for so long. She blinks a few times and her vision comes back to her. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you were ok." Haymitch states eyeing her carefully. "Effie can you get her some aspirin." Effie nods having been awfully quiet today. She gets up and hurries off to somewhere disappearing.

"What's aspirin?" Hagan ask curiously.

"It takes away headaches in two hours." Haymitch explains. He nods understanding.

"Sweetheart, you going to be okay with training today?" Haymitch ask. She nods.

"Yeah, and I'm good in a bow and arrow and a little good with knives up close not far away. Hagan is good with spears and hand to hand fighting." She says still rubbing her forehead. Haymitch nods.

"Good, so stay away from them until the Private Sessions which is on the last day of training during your lunch times. Stick to survival skills and observe your surroundings. Find out what everybody is good at but don't be too obvious. And the most important thing is to stick together." Haymitch tells them. They nod and Effie comes back dropping two white pills in Katniss hand.

"Take them with water dear, it will go down better." She tells her. She nods and takes the pills as Effie starts saying they are going to be late if they don't get going soon.

Effie walks them to the elevator and takes them down to the training room and then leaves. A trainer stands in the middle of the room as Katniss scans it and that they are the last ones to arrive. She takes Hagan's hand and leads them both silently in the back of the group of people. The trainer announces her name, Alta, and tells them how each of them are likely to die in the arena from natural causes and tells them to focus on survive and not all on weaponry. She stares pointedly at the Careers who consist of District 1, 2, and 4 tributes. They are more likely to win because they started training at the age of 5.

Alta dismisses them to start training saying no one can touch each other until in the arena and there will be consciences if someone does. Katniss sighs in relief as she says that because now she doesn't have to worry if Jason try to touch her. The only thing he can do now is talk and stare at her which she doesn't like either.

Everybody starts leaving the circle they had formed around Alta and started walking toward stations. As expected the Career tributes walk straight to the weapons. Clove; knives. Jason; axes. Glimmer; bow and arrow. Marvel; spears. And the two tributes from 4 that Katniss hasn't bothered to learn their names because they aren't as big and strong as the other Careers and they really don't pose a threat against her and Hagan so there was no need to do such a useless thing. Hagan pulls on her hand and she stops observing the people around her and looks at him.

"What station do you want to do first?" He ask looking around at each. Katniss shrugs.

"It doesn't matter. Haymitch said stick with survival so how about….we start with the fire station." She suggests. He nods and starts to pull her with him over to it. The trainer at the fire starting station seems startled by having tributes over. So he eagerly demonstrates and tells them how to do what when trying to start a fire from scratch. They both listen intensely not wanting to miss a single thing he says and watches his hands as he does it.

Once he's done showing them and telling he lets them try it and it takes a couple of times to get the fire started for both of them but once they get it lit they smile at each other knowing in some way this will help them in the arena. After an hour at this station they decide it's time to leave and bid the trainer goodbye and thanked him. He waved at them as they went over to the knot tying station. The trainer acts the same way as the other one; eager.

Katniss knowing so much about snares because of her Uncle Jack she doesn't listen to the trainer as she starts to show her what she can do. Hagan can do a little but he hasn't been out in the wood as long as them since they were 6 and he only started going since he turned 8. So he had a few years of experience, but nothing like Katniss's expertise. The trainer smiles glad that they don't have to teach them the basics and shows them more complicated knots that would leave anyone hanging from a tree.

They work on it for a while until they each get it and then leave the station not wanting to spend more than an hour at one station. They have to use their time wisely and try to get everything in today so they can review tomorrow. There's only 4 more hours until lunch break and they walk over to camouflage. Both of them find out that they are terrible at it and laugh at how ridiculous their arms look covered in different colors that are starting to mend and make colors of their own.

The laughter soon dies in Hagan's throat as he looks over Katniss's shoulder. Katniss isn't that tall and Hagan gets his height from his Dad almost up to her shoulder. So he can see over her just fine. He finds Jason staring at her body from behind and he glares at him hoping he can feel his glare. Nobody should look at his sister like that unless it's Cato then its fine with him. He knows it's not good to glare at the Career tributes or, Jason personally, because they can create you as a target to eliminate in the beginning.

Katniss looks over her shoulder to see who he's looking at and goes rigid. But she forces herself to look away from him because he smirks and winks at her. She gives a shudder not wanting to know what thoughts are running through his mind now. So she focuses on Hagan not wanting him as the Career's target.

"Hagan it's okay. Let's just move on." She tries to assure him but her voice is strained and she has to keep swallowing thickly to keep back the bile that threatens to come up. Hagan nods once and turns away walking to another station and she follows after him, but a hand grips her wrist yanking her into a very hard and uncomfortable chest. Not like Cato's hard but soft, smooth chest. She knows whose it is without even having to turn her head to see; Jason. She feels him lean down next to her ear, so only she could hear him. She looks at Hagan whose back is to her now so he can't see what's happening. She can't pull her arm free, already knowing he's too strong for her and she also knows her can't do anything that badly because he would get in trouble, so she stands still like a stone.

"You know, I like your ass in these tights. Makes we want to see what's under them." He whispers in her ear. She can feel his stale breath hit her face as he speaks. She keeps her face expressionless and her body motionless.

"The more you resist me, the more I'm going to want you and just so you know I'm known for getting anything I want with or without permission." His hands slid down and grabs her ass, not like Cato's soft grab that brings her pleasure from his touches. No. This is a hard squeeze that makes her wince and knows that there is going to be a bruise later. She can sense that he's telling the truth, but it doesn't stop her from snapping. She spins around all thoughts of trying to stay emotionless are gone and now there is only blinding furry behind her eyes. She shoves him with all her power into the wall and his body makes a lot thumb sound making everybody turn their heads to see where it came from. She can hear a sharp intake of breath knowing it came from Hagan and then his footsteps follow soon after, but she doesn't acknowledge even that and only keeps her eyes on Jason as she moves quickly having to wrap both her small hands around his thick muscular neck standing on her toes to reach his ear as she squeezes hard blocking his air ways.

"Touch me again…." She says in a low deadly voice "…and I will kill you. If you as somewhat come close to me I will kill you. If you even think about touching my brother I WILL KILL YOU." She gets louder at every word as her furry drives her to and grip on his neck is a death grip. He would struggle against her but the look in her eye is….crazy…not normal….and this is the first time he is actually speechless, that and well her hands. He can't think straight as she goes on. "Don't you fucking dare come near me or I will make your death a slow painful death by my hands and watch as the life drains from your ugly face. So fuck off."

She pushes him against the wall again and let's go of his neck turning around, walking away toward her brother who stares wide-eyed at her like everybody else as Jason holds the wall gulping air back into his burning lungs. This just makes him want her even more; he gets a rush when he's with her.

Alta sends a Capitol Peacekeeper to watch over Katniss for the rest of training and even when they are at lunch he stands in the corner observing her making sure she isn't doing anything wrong. Katniss feels rigid in everything she does as the Peacekeeper watches her, so her and Hagan stay quiet as they eat and then go back to training with everyone else when it's over. She can see her hands mark on Jason's neck as they are red indents there. She smirks knowing she did that and hope he will leave her alone for now, until the arena at least.

When training is over, Katniss grabs Hagan's arm and practically drag him out of the room before other tributes could put their stuff away. She's on the first elevator with him before anyone comes out of the room. They go up to the 12th floor knowing Haymitch and Effie will be waiting for them to tell them how training went. But they did not expect to see this; Haymitch and Effie…kissing? Is it real or are they just seeing things? Katniss clears her throat awkwardly as Hagan just watches them wide-eyed. Effie jumps startled by them and tries to straighten her appearance.

"Um….sorry dears. This um….." For once Effie is at lost for words and doesn't have any manners and is bright red from under all that make-up she wears. Haymitch looks at them, but it's mostly a glare for interrupting…whatever they were planning on doing. No wonder Effie has been more tamed and quiet lately. It's like Haymitch is teaching her to not be so talkative and uptight.

"So, how was training?" Haymitch grunts. Katniss shrugs nonchalantly, but Hagan has other ideas.

"Jason was watching Katniss's every step and then he advanced on her and she pinned him to the wall and started to choke him and threaten him and then we had to have a Peacekeeper follow us the rest of the day." He explains shaking his head. He knows her temper and how she acts too well, so he wasn't really surprised when he saw it but just scared that she might be a target now and they might think she is a threat if she could do that to Jason.

"What?" Effie squeaks. "That is un-lady like."

"What you were doing was very un-lady like too." Katniss rolls her eyes and smirks at Effie turning redder.

"Well, point taken." She says and walks away.

"We need to talk to Cato about this." Haymitch says after a minute. Katniss stiffens at his name.

"I don't think he would be happy to talk to me. Why don't you go talk to him and then tell us what he says?" She suggests. He nods and gets on the elevator.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone Sweetheart." He grunts as the doors close.

* * *

"What do you want?" Cato ask with his arm over his eyes laying down on his bed.

"I need your help and this has something to do with that boy tribute of yours." Haymitch says standing by the bed. Cato peeks through his arm a little to look at how serious his face is.

"I don't want anything to do with him. Brutus and I refuse to train that demon."

"I know, but this has something to do with him and Katniss." He says.

"What did she sleep with him too?" Cato spit out. Haymitch glares at him punch him in the stomach. Cato shoots up glaring at him.

"What was that for?" He exclaims. Haymitch glare hardens.

"Don't you dare talk about Sweetheart like that. You know she isn't like that. You're just mad because those kids aren't yours. You know nothing boy, so don't start assuming shit about her that you know damn well that it isn't true. She has been through a hell of a lot more since you left." Haymitch hisses at him getting in his face. Cato's shoulders slump knowing he's right. He can't help his anger and what comes out of his mouth. He just really wanted those kids to be his and maybe it's his imagination that they had his features in them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." He sighs. Haymitch nods and backs up from him.

"I know you didn't. Anyways, Jason is messing with her. Hagan told me that today in training he was staring at her and that he made a move on her something that made her snap and started choking him up against the wall while she threatened him. I'm afraid that Katniss thinks she's won and will put her guard down because she think she scared him, but she didn't. She made him want her even more. I didn't tell her this because I didn't want her to worry." He explains. Cato turns serious now.

"If he touched her I swear to god I'll…." Cato trails off knowing he can't kill him because then he'll be in trouble. Haymitch waves his hand like he's dismissing what he was saying,

"Yea, we already know what you'll do and he probably already touched her that's why she probably snapped and anyway I need you to do something." He says getting annoyed.

"What is it?" Cato ask.

"I know you really don't want to talk to her now. But she needs your protection, or he'll keep coming after her. So I need you to watch her and don't let her be in places where she is alone." He explains. Cato sighs.

"I'll do it." He says. Haymitch nods.

"If it makes you feel any better the guy that is her kids Dad hasn't spoken or seen his kids because he wanted nothing to do with her or him. She was just a distraction to him. She's been raising those kids with the help of her family. So try to not be so hard on her." Haymitch tells him half of the truth. Cato frowns.

"Why wouldn't anyone want anything to do with them? Have you seen her kids? She has good jeans they are beautiful." He says. Haymitch shrugs.

"I've seen them and they are something else up close. Maybe you should look at them really closely." He smirks and winks at him as he walks out not giving Cato a chance to ask what he meant by that.

Now Cato knows he has to talk to Katniss and apologize to her for the way he has acted. She doesn't deserve this from him. She deserves better. Sure she made a mistake, but everybody makes mistakes and this can be overlooked. He knew she was still in love with him because she told him herself. He should just focus on the problem at hand and not the other problems that he can deal with later. But he swears if he ever sees the that son-of-a-bitch that fucked her and got her pregnant, and didn't even stick around to help out, he will beat the living shit out of him. First for messing around with Katniss, since she is his. Second because he got her fucking pregnant. And third for not being a man and supporting her and his kids.

With a sigh he follows the path Haymitch took to get up to the 12th floor. Once he gets there he goes into Katniss's room knowing that's the only place she could be. He opens her door quietly and peeks his head in and see its empty, but then he hears the shower running. So he walks into the room shutting the door and sits on the edge of her bed waiting for her to get done and come out.

He hears the shower stop and he tries to look casual and not a nervous wreck. Katniss is the only one to make him feel like this. So when she steps out of the bathroom his breath leaves him because he was **_not_** prepared to see her like this.

She stands there naked, and as shocked as he is. He just stares at her not being able to make his eyes not travel all over her body. He has only seen her naked once in the woods and that was at night-time with only the moon for lighting. So he hasn't completely seen her like that.

"Cato!" She squeaks pathetically trying to cover up herself up with her hands and arms since she doesn't have a towel over her. Her voice snaps him out of his state and he looks at her face.

"What?" He smirks liking the view he's getting. He leans and puts his elbows on his knees and puts his chin in his hands as he just stares at her innocently.

"Can you please stop staring?" She glares at him but it's a weak glare because of the state she's in.

"Why I like my view. This is the first time I can really see you. And you've changed a lot." He says dragging his eyes over every inch of her body again.

"Cato!" She hiss, pouting slightly with pleading eyes. He sighs but takes one last look so he won't forget this image.

"Fine." He says and covers his eyes with one of his hands but peeks through them and watches her get dress putting on a bra and underwear, a blue shirt, and black shorts.

"I know you were watching." She says as she comes and sits down next to him on the bed. "I'm sorry."

He shakes his head, taking away his hand and looks at her, shrugging. "Don't be. I understand. And I'm sorry too. Haymitch told me you were raising them on your own because the guy didn't want anything to do with them. I should have known you didn't have it easy."

"Its…okay. They aren't bad. They listen to me and just like to be held a lot. Especially Skye he's already a mommy's boy." She smiles thinking about them.

"Skye? That's the boy's name?" He ask her furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yea, I just always liked that name because it's unique and beautiful to look at. He came out without even crying until I yelled in pain. He always looks peaceful like the sky, until he cries. His middle name is Ross. I wanted to use my dad's name." She nods explaining.

"What's the girls?" He ask interested now.

"Raven Faith. I chose her name because she looked just like her father. The same icy blue eyes, skin, but she has my hair and his silky straight texture. She came out a 2 minutes after her brother crying with my scowl on her face. Once she calmed down she looked mysterious and beautiful at the same time just like the bird. I know it sounds like a dark name but it's not really. It means courage, wisdom, leadership, and cunning. It fits her now because she looks curious all the time and she's a sneaky little thing. I chose Faith as her middle name because she will be easy to trust. She likes it when Hagan holds her more than me. I guess if her dad was with her, she would be a daddy's girl and would have him wrapped around her little chubby fingers like Skye has me." She says still smiling. Cato smiles at hearing this.

"I love their names. Wish I could beat up whoever left you to fend for yourself. It was his job to be there for them and they don't even know who their dad is. It's a shame. Did you give them your last name?" He ask finally. She shakes her head slowly.

"Actually...they do know who he is. They saw him plenty of times, but I just point him out to them because I knew he didn't want anything to do with them. And no, I gave them his last name. They are his too and I want them to know who their father is when I'm not there anymore. I know you think he doesn't deserve it but trust me he does. It's a lot you don't know and I can't tell you about it...**_yet_**" she says softly. He nods not really liking it. That man shouldn't even have the privilege of that, but she's right, he doesn't know the story and probably never will.

"Cato, can I….ask you to do me a favor?" She ask carefully trying to find the right word. He nods.

"Um….I know my family will take care of them and everything when I'm gone and I trust them to help, but I will feel a lot more at peace with not having to worry about them if you watch them when I'm gone. I don't want them to forget me and I want you to be a real father to them….if that makes any sense. I just trust you more to not steer them wrong with the help of my family, of course," she says as she blinks back tears and holds both of his strong hands in her small ones, "Will you do that for me?"

He nods slowly slightly shocked that she asked this of him. He knew when she was talking about them that he wanted to be in their lives somehow, but didn't know how to ask and now he doesn't have to because she wants him to be their father that they never had. What more could he possibly get better than this?

"I would be honored to do that for you. I would love them like they are my own, for you. I won't let anything happen to them I can promise you that. Thank you for trusting me with this." He tells her taking one of his hands and places it on her cheek. She leans into his touch sighing.

"You deserve this."

"Well thank you for giving me this."

They sit in silence for a while until he breaks it.

"Haymitch told me what happened today. What did he do to you?" He ask curiously knowing it doesn't take a lot for her to lose her temper and snap. She frowns as she thinks back to todays earlier events.

"He told me he liked my ass in my training tights and that when I resist him it will only make him want me more and that he always gets what he wants, and then he grabbed my ass hard, saying it's me who he wants and that he will take it whether I agree or not. I snapped after that and told him I'd kill him if he ever came close to me and told him that I would kill him making it be a slow painful death as I watch the life drain from his ugly face. I told him to stay away from Hagan too. He has red marks around his neck from where I had choked him at." She shrugs. "I don't think he will bother me anymore until we are in the arena away from the trainers and mentors to where we can do whatever we want."

"Haymitch told me to watch you and make sure you're not alone. Don't let your guard down because something is wrong with him. He's known in our district for rape and killing for fun after he's down with them. Brutus and I refuse to mentor him because he disgusts us." Cato tells her. A look of horror flashes across her face as she heard rape and killing._ Why would anyone do such a thing?_

"OK, I guess I'll feel safer with you watching my back, but don't get the wrong idea that I will like you following me 24/7" She sighs leaning her head on his shoulder. "I think the Career tributes are going to target me now since they saw what I did to Jason."

"I don't have a problem following you around. And with the Careers just stay out of sight for now on and don't stand out. There's nothing else you can do." He shrugs putting his arm around her shoulders. She nods.

"Can you stay here tonight? I want to spend as much time with you, before I have to go into the Game." She pleads looking up at him. He nods and kisses her lips gently like a feather touch.

"Sure." He mumbles once he pulls back smiling at her. She returns the smile. They're interrupted a moment later by Effie calling her to dinner. She gets up and pulls Cato with her.

"Come on let's go eat."

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I hope you all liked this chapter. I think there is two or three more chapters before they go into the Games. Next chapter will be showing their training scores and a lot of graphic smut with Cato and Katniss, so you have been warned.**_

_**Thank you for everyone who has favorite, followed, reviewed, and shared my story. I really appreciate it. I will update next Friday, or if I get a lot of reviews I will update a lot sooner.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_

_**Disclaimers: I don't own the Hunger Games Series.**_

_**WARNING: in the middle of this chapter, there is a graphic sex scence between Cato and Katniss. So you have been warned!**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Cato kept his promise about watching over Katniss. He took her and Hagan to and from training. He never lets them out of his sight. He sleeps in Katniss's room with Hagan at night after their training, only going to his floor in the morning to talk to Clove who understands his relationship with Katniss. She doesn't hate Katniss she actually admires her and wants to help her when they get into the arena, but nobody knows her plan. They will only find out about it when they watch the Games.

Today is Private Sessions and then tomorrow they get a day off to prepare for their interviews. Cato is walking them towards the elevator and gets in with them after hearing Haymitch's last advice to impress the Gamemakers. Katniss and Hagan are a nervous wreck. They already know what they are going to do, Katniss; bow and arrow, Hagan; spears. They just can't help but feel nervous because after the scoring tonight the Capitol people choose who they think is going to win and give their mentors money to sponsor them. If they get a low score, which is 6 and lower, no one would want to sponsor them and if they get a high score, 7 to 12, 12 being the highest they will have no problems finding people to sponsor them. But the odds are never in Katniss's favor.

As they step off the elevator on the training floor Cato pulls them aside.

"Hey, just listen to the advice Haymitch gave you. Make them remember you and you'll do fine." He says holding both their shoulders in each hand. They nod and Hagan hugs him.

"See you later." He says and walks into the training room giving them some privacy. Cato turns back to Katniss.

"You can do this. Remember you need a good score to help save him if God forbid anything happens to him in that arena." He tells her. She nods.

"I know. I'll see you at the scoring tonight?" She ask timidly. He shakes his head.

"I have to be with my tributes for this, but when it's over I'll come up and stay the night again." He tells her. She nods.

"OK, I'll see you later then." She says and gives him a kiss before walking into the training room.

They line them up in order by district so they sit boy, girl, boy, girl and so on. That means Katniss will go last which is bad because the Gamemakers will have already watch other people and will be bored when they get to the lower districts. She steels her nervous and holds Hagan's hand to help calm in down. She lets her mind wonder to what her babies Skye and Raven are doing with her family as the first person is called into the room.

Time passes with Katniss wondering back to her old life that she will miss dearly but also promising herself that she will do whatever it takes to get Hagan back home, even if it is down to the two of them and she has to kill herself. She would do it without a second thought.

Only 4 people wait to be called. Once the boy tribute, Thresh, from District 11 is called only 3 people remain. 15 minutes pass and the little girl, Rue, is called in.

"Good luck Rue." Hagan says to her. She gives him a shy smile.

"You too." She says and walks into the room. Rue has been shadowing them the second day at training and eats lunch with them making small conversations. Katniss knows she isn't going to be able to kill Rue and can't help but take a liking in her because she reminds her so much of her little duck. Minutes pass and then Hagan's name is called. He lets out a shaky breath letting go of Katniss's hand as he gets up.

"Good luck Hay." Katniss says.

"You too Kat. Shoot straight." He nods and goes into the room. She sits alone as she waits to be called and hopes Hagan is doing well on his own. She knows how good he is with a spear because she's the one that taught him how to use it since it was like her bow and arrows just without the bow. So she knows he will get at least a decent score.

_"Katniss Everdeen._" She hears her name being called. She gets up and walks into the room, trying to control her breathing.

"Katniss Everdeen. District 12" she calls out when she's in the room. The Gamemakers stop talking and watch her. She goes straight for the archery station, have not touched them since she's been training and is giddy to shoot now. Some of the people up top laugh at her choice, thinking she can't use them or doesn't know how. She scowls at that and picks up a silver bow and one of the silver arrows. She gets a good distance away from her target and locks in her arrow. When she gets in her stance ready to shoot as she pulls back. She notice something is different about this bow than the one she owns back home. This one is tighter while the other one she's use to use was looser.

She pulls back more and let's go and she knows that the arrow missed its target. She hears the Gamemakers laugh at her pathetic attempt to impress them and then go back to drinking and talking, not paying attention to her anymore. Her scowl deepens and she picks up another arrow and locks it in place and shoots. It hits dead center.

_Bulls-eye._

But when she turns around and looks up at them nobody was watching her except for 2 people. She gets angry now. Already lost her temper as they talk about a damn pig with an apple in its mouth.

_My life is on the line and they can't even pay attention to me?_

_They are taking away Hagan's changes of sponsors!_

She thinks, as she grabs another arrow and points it at them. She lets it fly and it goes through the apple and makes its way into the wall behind it with the apple on it. They let out a cry of surprise. Some dropping their glasses out of shock and they stare at her like they can't believe she just done that. She doesn't care about the consequences anymore because she knows she isn't going to be coming home.

_So what's the point?_

"Thank you for your consideration." She bows sarcastically and throws the bow down on the ground and walks out the room without looking back. She gets into the elevator and punches the 12 button with her fist. She's so mad that she isn't in the mood for anyone. She feels angry tears in her eyes threatening to spill over as she gets to her floor. She runs quickly to her room before anyone could catch or stop her. She shuts her door and locks it just as the tears fall.

Everybody bangs on her door telling her to come out, wanting to know what's wrong, but she ignores them all and going into the bathroom and takes a hot long shower. She doesn't know long she's in there but when she gets out Effie knocks on her door softly calling her for dinner.

She gets dress into a pair of shorts and a purple shirt. She braids her hair back and walks out of her room and go in to the dining room where everybody is. She silently takes her seat next to a concerned Hagan and plays with her food only taking little bites, not really hungry.

"Okay, we've waited long enough. Just how bad did you two do?" Haymitch ask abandoning his food and sips on clear liquid that must be liquor. Hagan shrugs, picking at his food.

"I don't know if they were even watching me while I was throwing the spears. They were all singing this drunk song. I'll probably get a low score because of them." He sighs. This just makes Katniss mad that they didn't even have the nerve to watch a 12-year-old boys Private Session. She scowls at her plate in front of her.

"I shot an arrow at them." She mumbles. She hears silver wear hit the table.

"You what!?" Effie shrieks standing up.

"You…shot…an arrow…at them?" Cinna ask slowly not being able to believe she did that. Katniss shrugs.

"Yea, I mean not directly at them. I was just aiming for the apple in the pig's mouth that they were paying more attention to than me." She defends looking at them.

"What happened after that?" Portia ask her softly. She shrugs again.

"I told them _'Thank you for your consideration'_ and then bowed and walked out." She explains carefully.

"You can't do that. They didn't even dismiss you. You could get into big trouble with this. They can decide to take it out on…" Effie doesn't get to finish her sentence as Haymitch cuts her off.

"On who? On her? On him? I think they already have. So loosen your corset, have a drink. I would have given anything to see it." Haymitch chuckles. This makes Katniss feel better and it gets her appetite back.

When they are done with dinner they all go to sit in the viewing room. Katniss wedges herself in between Hagan and Cinna who puts his arm around her in a friendly gesture. They watch as the other tributes names are called. Marvel being first gets a 9, Glimmer a 7, which is not a surprise to her and Hagan because all she knows how do is flirt and draw attention to her. Jason gets a 10, Clove a 10 and then she stops listening after that because nobody else is going to be a threat to her because they all get lower numbers, even the Career tributes from District 4. But what catches her attention is the boy from 11, Thresh, he gets a 10 and then Rue gets a seven which is good for her. Now it's the time that Katniss has been dreading because she just knows she's going to get a low score.

_"Hagan Everdeen,_" Ceaser says and then reads his score. He looks surprise as he says,_ "….with a score of…8"_

Everybody cheers and congratulate him. Hagan smiles at all of them relieved he got a good score. Katniss squeezes him to her side and then let's go as everybody settles down to hear the next score.

_"Katniss Everdeen."_ Now this time Ceaser can't help his eye brows from shooting up as he reads her score. He has to take a double look just to be sure._ "…..with a score of….."_ He pauses for dramatic effect,

_"….11…"_ He finally says. Everybody congratulates her as she just stares at the blinking 11 on the screen and then the screen goes dark.

"To Katniss,_ the girl on fire._" Cinna toast to her. Everybody joins in and Katniss manages a smile a little relieved but there has to be more to that score. They just don't hand out 11's like that. No they want her to pay. So they are making her a target for the other tributes as pay back.

"Looks like they liked your temper Sweetheart." Haymitch says as she passes her. She shrugs at him not knowing what to say.

"This year is just going to be great!" Effie exclaims walking over to them. "Sponsors will be lining up left and right to just sponsor you in the arena. Sleep as late as you like dearies. Tomorrow you need your rest for practicing your interviews. Goodnight." She walks out of the room. Cinna kisses both their cheeks at bids them goodnight.

Katniss and Hagan go to their rooms knowing they will see each other once they are ready for bed. She goes to the bathroom and gets in the shower already an expert at it knows she already took a shower earlier, but she doesn't care. She closes her eyes as the hot water beats down on her. She lets her mind go blank turning off all senses not wanting anything to bother her because she wants to be at peace for a bit. So she doesn't hear the bathroom door opening and closing. She doesn't hear the clothes hit the floor and she doesn't ear the shower door opening and closing. But she does feel hands that circle her waist making her jump with a yelp turning around to see who is in here with her; Cato. She sighs in relief and tries to calm down her heart rate.

"You scared me Cato." She breathes looking up at him. He smirks at her.

"What happened to your hunters instincts? I wasn't exactly quiet." He teases her. She gives a weak laugh shrugging.

"Maybe I didn't want to hear anything and just let my mind be blank." She turns around so her back is facing him. He shrugs.

"I guess that makes scenes." He says kissing her neck. She sighs leaning all the way into him.

"Why are you in here anyway?" She ask after a minute stretching her neck to give him a better angle.

"Because Hagan shares a bed with us and we don't have time to ourselves and what I want to do to you is not something I want him to see." He mumbles in between kisses as he slides his hands down to her lower lips. Her breath hitches in her throat not being touch there in so long. Cato rubs slowly along her slit teasing her.

"Would you want him to see me doing this to you?" He says putting pressure on her clit but doesn't move his hands until she answers him.

"N-no" She stutters wanting so badly for his hand to move. She moans softly as his hand starts to rub her slowly and he suck on her neck remembering her weak spot on her pulse point, just under her jaw. He knows when he's found it because she moans loudly and bucks her hips involuntary. She groans frustrated at how slow he's going and tries to move her hips to speed up his hand movements. She whines when he goes even slower.

"Cato please…" She whimpers still moving her hips. Cato chuckles but gives in to her begging. He slips an arms around to hold her hips down against him so she can't move them and picks ups his pace making tight circles on her clit as he continues to nib, lick and suck on her neck to leave his mark on her. She's moaning loudly now. The sounds that is coming out of her mouth doesn't even sound like her. She groans as he slips a finger inside her and then another. He pumps them in and out of her fast and rubs her clit with his thumb. She feels herself about to release when he stops pulling them out of her and licks them clean tasting her. She shudders at the sight and he pushes her onto the shower wall and puts his hands on her ass lifting her up and she wraps her legs around his waist.

"Do you want me?" He ask huskily looking in her eyes. She nods. "Say it then." He growls at her.

"I want you Cato. I want you so much it hurts." She says and then she crashes her lips to his, shoving her tongue in his mouth. He moans in her mouth squeezing her ass as he lines up his member at her entrance; he's so hard for her that he can't even wait any longer. He pushes himself into her without warning and stills. She yelps at the slight pain because its been a while since she's done this. Once she adjust she starts moving a little to tell him she's ready and he pulls back again and slams back in to her, missing how she felt around him. Cato's mouth finds her neck again and starts to leave more marks wanting everybody to know she's taken by him.

_"Mine."_ He says possessively, still slamming into her looking up at her as she looks at him, moaning loudly._ "Say it."_

"Yours Cato….I'm yours…only yours." She pants feeling ready to climax again. Cato keeps at his pace, but takes one hand away from her ass and puts it between them rubbing her clit to push her over the edge. She chants out his name as she cums and slumps against the wall her body going limp as she comes down from her high. Cato soon follows he,r after two powerful thrust he spills himself inside her saying her name and breathing heavily when he's done. He slumps against her putting his head on her shoulder, until his heart rate has calmed down. He pulls back and pulls himself out of her and puts her down. Her legs feel like jelly so she leans against the wall to support herself.

Cato presses a button so that soap sprays them and then her starts to wash her body first taking his time caressing her and then wash her hair massaging her scalp. She sighs at how good it feels being taken care of for once. He puts her under the water to rinse off and then she washes him doing as he did to her. She has to ask him to sit down on the bench that is in the shower so she can wash his hair. When he rinses off, he pulls her to him and dips his head to give her a slow passionate kiss that has so much love behind and she puts just as much into the kiss as he does.

"I love you." Cato whispers against her lips. She smiles kissing him again.

"I love you too." She turns the water off and they get out stepping onto the drying plate and let it dry them. Cato grabs clothes he brought for the both of them, since he knew Katniss doesn't bring anything in with her. He hands her, her clothes and she looks at them and then puts on just the shorts and the shirt. Cato gets dress with her and raises an eyebrow at her. Looking from the bra and underwear and back to her.

"You not going to wear anything under that?" He ask gesturing to her. She shrugs.

"Sorry, I just got used to not sleeping in any because I had to always wake up in the middle on the night to breast feed the twins so I just stop wearing one because it took too long to get it off." She explains to him. He nods taking her hand and pulling her out of the door. They see Hagan already in the bed waiting for them. He looks over to him and then Katniss. He squints his eyes at her.

"Kat, where did you get all those marks from on your neck?" He ask innocently. Cato has to suppress a laugh as Katniss struggles to answer him.

"Yea, Katniss where did they come from?" Cato ask in mock innocents. She turns and glares at him, slapping his muscular arm.

"This is all your fault." She whisper, hisses to him as her face starts to heat up. "I got them from Cato." She tells Hagan. He nods not going to ask any more questions. They both shuffle to get in the bed and Katniss goes first getting in the middle and Cato turns off the lights sliding in after her slipping both his arms around her pulling her closer to him and buries his face in her neck giving it a light kiss before trying to find sleep, which they eventually do.

* * *

It feels nice for a change to wake up on their own not having to worry about being late or hearing Effie's chirpy voice. Katniss is the first to wake up and notice Cato and Hagan are still asleep. She looks at them both and they could be brother's with their blond hair, while they are sleeping, but you can tell that they are not when their eyes are open because they look nothing alike. Hagan looks more like her because of his grey eyes and a scowl he wears when someone gets him mad, which is rare for him. She kisses Hagan's forehead and then pecks Cato's lips softly knowing he's a light sleeper just like her. She untangles herself slowly from him and moves over his body and out of the bed walking over to the closet to pick out comfortable clothes since she isn't going anywhere today.

She grabs underwear and a bra, a pair of silk red pants, and a black shirt. She walk into the bathroom and quietly closes the door behind her. She gets in the shower and wash her body quickly and then steps out putting on the things she brought. She combs her fingers through her dry wavy hair and then braids it back out of her face and walks out of the bathroom finding only Cato sitting in bed, wearing a pout on his face. She looks at him confused.

"What?" She ask, kind of amused to the look on his face.

"You didn't wake me to shower with you." He states pouting more, sticking out his bottom lip. She laughs lightly and walks over to him and pulls him in for a long kiss, which he eagerly returns, and then she pulls back.

"Sorry you just looked too peaceful to wake up. Where did Hagan go?"

"To his room to shower. He said he'll see you at breakfast."

"You have to go back up to your tributes, don't you?"

"Yeah. But I'll be back tonight." He sighs kissing her lips one more time before getting up to stretch. "Walk me to the elevator?" He suggests knowing he needs to get going. She nods grabs his hand and walks out of her bedroom and go down the hall and to the elevator. Cato presses the button and then turns to Katniss.

"I love you." He says kissing her whiling running his fingers over the marks on her neck.

"Yeah, thanks for the love bites." She says sarcastically. "How am I supposed to explain that to the Capitol when Ceaser ask about them."

"Tell them I gave them to you because I was making my claim on you. Honestly who cares?" Cato shrugs not really worried about it. Katniss huffs.

"Fine and love you too." She mumbles leaning all the way up to reach his lips and gives him a kiss before he gets on the elevator. He flashes her a smile as the doors close in front of him. Katniss goes into the dining room and see Hagan and everybody else sitting down eating. She takes a plate and fills it up sitting next to Hagan.

"Good morning Katniss." Effie smiles brightly at her. She smiles back a little less brightly, but she has to say Effie is really growing on her just like Haymitch. She starts eating as Hagan ask a question.

"So what's on today's schedule?"

"Well, we are going to have you separately. Katniss is going with Effie first and you're going with me. Then we'll switch off. We'll have each of you for 2 hours to get you ready for your interviews tomorrow." Haymitch explain through a mouth full of food. Effie makes a disapproving noise, but doesn't say anything._ Yea, Haymitch got her trained good…..Wonder what he does to get her so tamed?_

Once everyone is down with their breakfast Effie takes Katniss with her into her room and puts her into some tall heels. Effie teaches her how to walk and balance in them and then teaches her how to sit, talk, and smile and cross her legs properly. By the time Katniss is done she kicks the heels off her, her feet being sore in them and rushes out of the room before Effie can tell her something else about, good lady manners. She slows down when she's a good distances away from her. She goes to Haymitch who is waiting for her in the living room. He smirks at her scowl.

"She wore you out, didn't she?" He chuckles. She nods still scowling. "I know how you feel. She's a handful." Her face contorts into a look of pure disgust.

"I don't want to hear about how you two get down when you both are alone with each other." She shudders. He laughs loudly and then shrugs.

"Okay, let's get this over with." He sighs and then just stares at her for a long time until she can't take it anymore.

"Well?" She snaps at him. He frowns.

"I'm trying to figure out an angle for you. But you have a personality of a dead slug." He grunts still looking at her. She scowls at him.

"No it's not. It's not my fault I don't like being here or the people who live here." She hisses at him crossing her arms defensively. He shrugs.

"Okay that's understandable. They already love you and your brother and know you have kids. So be a fierce, caring, loving Mother/ Sister that will do anything to protect her family." Then be mysterious when they ask you personal questions you don't want them to know about just don't show them how much you really hate them." He says. "And tell them about Cato." She nods thinking she can do that. It doesn't seem too hard.

"Okay lets see if you can do it." He says and starts to ask her questions.

"So Katniss how did you feel when you heard you sister get called at the reaping?" He mimic's Ceasar's voice.

"My heart stopped. I couldn't believe it. It was her and my brothers first reaping and she was the one that got called out of all those names in that bowl. She was too young to go in." She says sincerely. Haymitch nods in approval.

"We saw that you were holding kids in your arms when you volunteered, who are they?"

"They are my kids. I had just had them not too long ago." She smiles softly at remembering her kids.

"My, what a young age you had them at. What are their names? And is their father that blond boy who took them away from you?"

"Well Ceaser if you must know. The girl's name is Raven Faith and the boy is Skye Ross. They are twins and no he's not the father." She chuckles lightly.

"Oh! What wonderful names. Please, you have to tell us, who is the father? Is it Cato; everyone has heard rumors about you two knowing each other and are dating."

"How about a deal Ceaser. When the Hunger Games are over I'll let my brother tell you who the father is because only he and I know. What do you say?" She arches an eyebrow at him.

"I say you got yourself a deal! But wait, you said you brother, does this mean you're not planning on coming back?"

"No, I'm not planning on coming back Ceaser. My family already knows that I will do anything in my power to bring back my little brother. He deserves to live more than I do. I know my kids will be in safe hands with my family and their father around so I don't have anything to worry about." She admits sadly but determined.

"Well Sweetheart…that was good. You showed all the things we talked about, so you should be able to do well in the interview." Haymitch says impressed.

"What's Hagan's angle?" She ask him.

"Charming, but fierce" He simply says. Katniss nods that fits Hagan perfectly.

"So, are we done here?" She ask standing up stretching. He nods shooing her away. She leaves and goes into her room tired. She lays down in her bed closing her eyes and starts to fall asleep after a minute.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I hope you guys liked it! Next chapter will be their interviews and a big surprise in it. So if you want me to hurry up and upload the surprise, REVIEW. Or your going to have to wait until this coming up Monday sine I have a day off from school or Friday, my usual time. Your choice.**_

_**Those of you who are waiting for my first story, 'In Hiding' to be updated, just to let you know I'm coming off my break this up coming Friday and am going to upload the last chapter, so you guys don't have to wait any longer than you had to. **_

_**Thank you for those who reviewed, favorite it, followed, and shared my story. It means so much to me. **_

_**Also I want to thank my Beta for editing this chapter, well all of my chapters for this story, so shout out to KittyKatnissEverdeen!**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	6. Chapter 5

**_A/N:_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games series. _**

**_See you at the bottom..._**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

Katniss, baby, you're going to do just fine. Calm down if you can impress Haymitch then you can impress anybody." Cato reassures her as she fidgets next to him sitting on her bed in the morning of the interviews.

"But I don't want to tell them anything about me or my family. Why would I tell them my personal stuff when I despise them?" She spits out.

"Just try to think about it." He shrugs. She sighs nodding.

"It not going to be easy." She mumbles, "How long do we have until I have to go with my prep team?"

"4 hours." He says lying back on the bed with his arms under his head. She lays down on top of him sighing.

"Let's just stay in here talking until I have to go." She says into his chest. He nods.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" He ask her taking one of his hands and runs it through her hair. She shrugs.

"Anything you want." She mumbles.

"Okay, what are Skye and Raven like?" He ask carefully. She smiles at the question.

"Let's see Skye is just like his name. Peaceful. He doesn't cause any trouble. When he cries it's like a rain storm. I know he's going to be like me when he gets older but not as quiet or mean unless he wants to be. Raven is another story. She's loud and always suspicious of those who are around her. She's actually just like her father maybe that's why she's a daddy's girl. She has my trademark scowl and Skye has his dad's. The only way I can calm them down is by singing to them. That seems to always work. " She explains. Cato nods smiling but not liking how she always mentions the father.

"What can they do since I know they are only one and a couple of months old?" He ask.

"A lot. I swear they love working me to death. They can walk well now and run a little. They can speak some words like_ 'No' 'Yes' 'Momma' 'Good' 'Food_' and etc… Raven likes to suck on her thumb and I would always have to scold her and she would cry and say '_Mean_' while pouting. I'm really hoping that habit of hers breaks, it's not healthy. Skye likes to play with my ears when I hold him. I don't know why, but it just fascinates him and both of them like to tug on my hair pulling it loose. They know who their Aunts and Uncles are..." She tells him. "….and their Dad…." She mumbles later. Cato tenses.

"You showed them who their Dad is?" He strains. She nods carefully.

"Yea. Every chance I got." She sighs. He nods and stays quiet.

….

The hours pass by quickly for them and before they know it's time to get ready for he interviews. Cato bids Katniss with a kiss and a reassuring smile and then he leaves her in her prep teams hands who wax and clean her up for Cinna. She now stands in the middle of the room with no bra on and only underwear with her prep team waiting for Cinna to show up.

He shows up with a garment bag that must have her dress in it.

"Close your eyes." He smiles. She obeys and closes them. He hears him unzip the bag and then he moves over to her. "Lift your arms up above your head." She complies raising her arms and then feels the dress slip over her head. As they adjust the dress on her. She notice that it's snug and clings to her every curve. "Ok, now take my arm and I'll help you step into your shoes." She takes his arm in both her hands to balance herself as her prep team help put her heels on and she is relieved that they are 3 inches shorter than Effie's and that they are comfortable. She feels Cinna turn her toward the mirror and start to fix up her hair making it into a messy bun on top of her head and leaves some pieces dangling around her face. He touches up her make-up and puts little rhinestones on one of her shoulders all the way down to her back where it is opened.

"OK, now open your eyes" Cinna clasps his hands together stepping back from her. She opens her eyes slowly and her reflection shocks her. Her dress is a mixture of red and orange going all the way down. The dress is long down to her feet and you can see some of her cleavage because it's a halter dress and when she turns to see the back; it's backless all the way down until it hits her lower back. She frowns a little at that. She doesn't like showing that much skin. But none the less she looks radiant like she's on fire and if she moves slightly the bottom of the dress where it flares out looks like it's catching on fire with every step. She has minimum make up on so she still looks like herself but her lips are covered with a thick red lipstick and her eyes stand out more with the gold eye shadow.

"Cinna….I love it." She says and then frowns. "Well….I'm not a fan of it being backless."

"I know. I had no control over that. I was told to make it backless and showy. Sorry." He says standing next to her in the mirror. Her prep team leaves after Cinna tells them they are done for today.

"I guess I understand." She says perplexed.

"So do you know what you're going to do for the interview?" He ask.

"Yea, but how am I supposed to tell them some personal stuff if I don't like them.' She huffs. Cato's advice didn't help her so maybe Cinna's will be better.

"Cato do you consider me as a friend?" He ask gently. She nods.

"Yes, but does that have to do with anything?" She ask confused.

"When Ceaser ask you a question just look for me in the audience. You wouldn't have a problem telling me the answers of the questions he ask you, would you?" He ask arching an eyebrow at her.

"No, I guess not. Thank you Cinna." She sighs but gives him a smile. He returns her smile and leads her to the door.

"It's time to get down there." He says and they both walk out of the room finding Hagan and Portia already waiting for them.

Hagan looks stunning, way older than what he really is in the suit Portia made for him. He's in a pair of black dress pants, a white dress shirt with a black suit jacket to go over it and t has flames on the end of the sleeves and he wears a red tie, and black dress shoes. He could pass as 14 maybe 15 with his hair pushed back with gel making it stay.

"You look just like him, you know. Your face and bone structure. I wouldn't be surprised if you are his look-alike when you get older." Katniss tells him as she touches his face. He knows she's referring to their dad and it makes his throat tighten up.

"Thank you." He gives her a small smile. "You look nice too."

They all pile into the elevator that takes them down to where the interview will be held. They find everybody else talking to their mentors for last-minute advice. Katniss catches Cato's eye as she makes her way to her seat with Hagan. He stops talking to Clove and stares at Katniss and makes his way over to her. She sees him coming so she stops and waits for him.

"Hey." She says suddenly shy and crosses her arms in front of her wishing the dress had a back. He stays quiet as he looks her over and then he closes the distance between them by grabbing her waist and dipping his head as he kisses her red plump lips. Other people around them are shocked by this. Cato pulls away with red lipstick smeared on his lips.

"You look beautifully stunning." He whispers her ear running his hand along her neck touching each love bite he gave her. She knows Cinna didn't try to cover them up.

"Thank you. So do you." She drinks him in. Wearing black dress pants, a black dress shirt with a white suit jacket over it and a red tie to match with her, and black dress shoes. He gives her a quick peck as Ceaser walks out onto the stage to start the interviews.

"You're going to do fine." He whispers to her. She nods and watches him walk away with the other mentors and stylist to go find their seats. She walks over to her seat and takes the second to last seat next to Hagan who is in the last seat. They lace their fingers together to calm both of their nerves. They watch as District 1 do their interviews on the big screen in front of them. You can tell what angle the boy is going for and that's funny which he is doing a terrible job at and the girl whose dress is basically see through is going for sexy which she is. Then it's Jason turns to go up as Ceaser introduces him and Katniss tunes out the first half of their conversation already knowing he is cocky and arrogant and deadly. What catches her attention is when Ceaser ask him a question that causes that glint to appear in his eyes.

"So what do you expect to get out of these Games?"

"I expect to get what I want." He says in a deep deadly voice looking into the camera. Katniss knows he is talking to her directly.

"And what is it that you want?"

"The crown and Katniss Everdeen." He smirks directly in the camera at her. The crowd gasp at this and then Ceaser tells them that his time is up. Katniss shudders knowing he won't stop until he gets her. Cloves interview is sadistic but not once does she mention that she is going to win. Katniss tunes out after that only listening when Rue goes up there. Katniss hands start to sweat as Thresh is called up and too soon her name is being called.

_"Katniss Everdeen; The Girl on Fire!"_ Yells Ceaser as a woman pushes her to the stage. She walks as everybody cheers for her. She gives them her best fake smile and walk toward Ceaser and shake hands with him. She hears some people in the audience woof-whistle at her when they catch a glimpse of her bare back. Heat makes its way to her face as she quickly takes her seat. The crowd quiets down immediately.

"So tell us Katniss, how are you enjoying your stay in the Capitol." Ceaser starts off lightly.

"Fine. I love the food here," She answer weakly. Ceaser chuckles.

"Well I guess we Can all agree to that, can't we folks?" He calls out to the audience who shout answers at him.

"Anyways, during your opening ceremonies my heart stopped. What did you think about the fire?" She searches the crowd until she finds Cinna.

"Well…I and Hagan were hoping we wouldn't burn to death."

"I'm sure you were, it was quite an entrance. Tell us was the fire real?"

"Yes," She still looking at Cinna and he makes a circle with his finger wanting her to twirl for him. "In fact I'm wearing them today, would you like to see?" She turns and ask Ceaser.

"Oh yes, now are you sure it's safe?" He ask. She gives him a light laugh nodding as she stands. She moves over to the front and holds her arms out to the side and starts the spin. Fire laps at her feet as she keeps spinning and the crowd goes wild at the site. She soon stops and Ceaser steadies her.

"Steady, steady." He says chuckling leading her to her seat. "That was fantastic. Everyone please applaud Cinna for his great work!"

"Now on to more important matters. The Reaping. Katniss you were holding two kids with you when you volunteered for your sister. Are they yours?" Ceaser ask softly touching her hand. Katniss looks at Cinna again.

"Yes, they are mine. I had them a month before I was supposed to turn 15." She says softly looking back at Ceaser who looks shocked.

"My, that was a very young age. Tell us was the father that blond boy who took them away from you?"

"Rye? No. He's my cousin" She chuckles lightly. Ceaser looks excited at this news.

"So what are their names and who is the father? Is it Cato Valentine the Victor of the 72nd Hunger Games? We heard rumors that you two have known each other before. Are these rumors true?" He arches an eyebrow smiling. She laughs again.

"That's a lot of questions Ceaser. The boy name is Skye Ross and the girl is Raven Faith. And no Cato is not the father, but the rumors are true we have known each other before this. We are together now." She says looking at Cinna and then looking back at Ceaser whose at the edge of his seat now.

"You have us on edge. You have to tell us! Who is the father of your twin?"

"How about a deal Ceaser?" Katniss suggest leaning closer.

"Deal? What kind of deal?" He ask perplexed.

"I let Hagan tell you who the father is when the Hunger Games are over and he is the Victor." She says. Ceaser seems shocked again.

"You mean you're not planning on coming back?" She shakes her head sadly.

"No, I'm not. I will do everything in my power while I'm still breathing to make sure Hagan lives even if it comes down to the two of us. I will not hesitate to stab myself so he can win. I know ,my kids will be in good hands with my family and their father. They knew I wasn't going to come back, that's why they already said their goodbyes to me." She explain looking directly at Cato instead of Cinna. He looks a little defeated but keeps on his act.

"Well then I guess we have ourselves a deal Girl on Fire." He says putting out his hand to her and she shakes it firmly.

"So tell us was it Cato who gave you all those love bites on your neck?" She blushes.

"Yes, he likes to claim what is his by leaving his mark." She says and the crowd woof-whistle. Ceaser arches an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, so how do you think he's taking it when Jason the District 2 tribute claimed that he wanted you?"

"Not good. He's possessive over what is his and I am his so he isn't taken it too well." She shrugs looking at Cato who smiles at her because she told everybody she's his.

"Oh well how are you taking it?" Katniss scowls into the camera knowing she needs to look fierce and determined.

"He won't get me or the crown. That crown belongs to Hagan and I will kill Jason myself if he gets in the way of it. I belong to Cato Valentine and nobody else. No one can ever claim me as theirs but him and only him. I already gave Jason a warning once but the next won't be a warning it will be a knife to his throat as I watch the life drain out of his eyes." She spits out deadly, her eyes blazing more than ever. Ceaser sits back a little away from her because she scared him a little as is the audience.

"Well we will see what happens in the arena then. Sadly we are out of time. Give it up for Katniss Everdeen! From District 12 known as The Girl on Fire!" Ceaser shouts. The crowd cheers and screams for her as she leaves smiling knowing she did well. She passes Hagan as he is called to the stage and gives his shoulder a squeeze as she passes him. She sits down in her seat and watches Hagan's interview. They make jokes which makes the crowd laugh.

"So tells us. How did you manage to get an 8 and your sister get an 11. We are just dying to know." Hagan smirks.

"Well, Katniss taught me everything I know and I guess my skill impressed the Game makers. Katniss, well she's a different story. I think it was definitely a first." He says coolly leaning back. Ceaser is at the edge of his seat just like the rest of the audience.

"Oooo, what was it?"

"Sorry, but my lips are sealed. You're just going to have to wait like the rest of them until the arena." He smirks. _Oh he's good. He's been spending too much time with Peeta._ Katniss thinks

"Are you and your sister always this mysterious?"

"We can be when we want to." He shrugs smirking.

"Well anyways, what were you thinking when they called your name at the reaping?"

"I don't think I was thinking at all. All I notice was that my feet were walking on its own. So I guess I was shocked because it was me and my twins first reaping and if Katniss wouldn't have volunteered for her then we would be in this together. It's actually scary to think about it like that." He explains frowning. Ceaser gives him a sympathetic look.

"So that was your twin that was called. No wonder you two looked so much alike."

"Yea, Primrose. She's my best friend more than my twin sister. We were always around each other." He sighs sadly. The crowd looks like they are on the verge of crying. _He has them wrapped around his pinkie now_. Katniss thinks smiling, only Hagan and Prim are capable of doing that.

"Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Katniss promised to bring you home safely. How do you feel about what she said?"

"Yea, I know that and I feel sad that she's going to risk her life to save mine. I knew from the beginning she was going to do that because she cares more about her family than herself. So once she has her mind set on something. There is no way to stop her from following through with it. Even Cato can't talk her out of it. She's too stubborn to just give up and let me die, thinking all hope is lost. I know I can't stop her but I don't have to act happy that I like her risking her life just to save mine." He looks in the camera staring at it frowning.

"Well, I speak for all of us that we are going to look forward in seeing you back here, if she succeeds in saving you." The crowd cheers at that.

"So what do you have to say about the deal she made?"

"I'll do whatever favors she ask of me to do. If she's willing to die so I can live, than the least I can do is grant her, her last dying wishes.' He explains sadly.

"And what do you think about what Jason said?"

"He won't touch her. I won't let it happen. I will make sure he dies a slow painful death just like Katniss said and watch the life drain from his eyes and I won't regret doing it. He better watch out because if you play with fire, you always get burned, every time." He growls, eyes blazing just like Katniss's had. He gets his fire from his dad just like Katniss, but she has more of it than him.

"I speak for everyone as I say this; I think this is going to be a very interesting year. And again our time is up. Give it up for Hagan Everdeen; from District 12!" Everyone shouts at him as he walks off the stage toward his seat. Everyone stands as Ceaser bids everyone goodnight. After it's over Katniss drags Hagan into the first elevator and the door starts to close in front of them but a hand stops it.

_Jason_.

Hagan and Katniss both go stiff as she slips in and stands closely by her. Too close. He smirks at them, mostly her and brings up his hand and drags it down her arm slowly as he talks to her.

"I love this dress on you. Makes me want to take you now." He says roughly with that glint in his eye. "And there is no one here to stop me or guard you while I do it." He chuckles darkly and lets his hands move to her bare back and start downward. She shivers and not is a good way. She wants to throw up and thinks maybe if she throws up on him he'll probably will back off, but that's highly unlike able. Just as he's about to touch her ass again Hagan moves quickly and catches his wrist before he can reach it.

"Don't you dare touch her!" He speaks deadly, glaring at him. Jason just laughs and then punches him in the jaw as the elevator doors open to their floor. He stumbles back onto their floor and falls to ground holding his jaw. Katniss gasps and rushes toward him to help him up, when she's pulled back and slammed into the wall next to a table with a vase on it that's next to the elevator. Air escapes her lungs on the impact and Jason is on her seconds and has one of his big hands grasp her neck choking her. She claws at his hand trying to break free as he lifts her off the ground by her neck. She tries to suck in air but it won't come as his mouth descends on hers. She panics and quickly looks for any sort of weak spot on him before she dies of lack of air. She finally see's one thinking back to when they met Haymitch and what her mother used to do for when her patience couldn't stop moving.

She quickly jabs her two finger by his arm pit and where his arm and forearm meet and his hold on her neck goes limp and his mouth pulls away from hers making her fall to the ground coughing gasping for air and she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. But not for long when he grabs her by her hair picking her up of the ground to her feet. She grits her teeth at the pain and pushes all her weight into him making him fall over, but she knows it wasn't hard enough to knock the air out of him because she doesn't weigh much. So she waste no time in jumping on him while he's distracted and quickly balls her right hand into a fist and clamp her left hand over it, knowing a one arm punch won't affect him, and brings it down with all her might into the side of his head and does it over again.

He catches her balled fist the third time and then punches her on the left side of her face close to her mouth. Her head jerks to the right seeing black spots at the edge of her vision. He pushes her from him and gets up smiling darkly at her.

"I like a girl with a little fight in her." He tells her and grabs a fist full of her hair since the first time he grabbed it had fell out of its bun and hung loosely. He pulls her to her feet once again and drags her back over to the wall. Blood drips from her bottom lip since he busted her lip and winces at her hair being tugged and then thrown into the wall.

Not seeing Hagan behind him and hits him in the back of the head with the glass vase breaking off the bottom. Jason touches the back of his head and then slowly turns to Hagan and starts walking toward him slowly.

"I'm going to make you watch me rape your sister and then kill you." He says and Hagan drops the top of the vase he was holding and starts to back up. Something in Katniss snaps like a beast within her is let free. She doesn't even think as she runs toward Hagan. She gets in front of him and tackles Jason back against the wall, hard, making a thud sound. Then brings her knee up into his groin, hard making him bend over in pain and she takes this advantage again balling her right hand into fist and clasping her left hand over it and hit him in his hard face. It snaps to left and then she brings her knee up again and it crushes his nose making it bleed. She moves away from him and grabs the top of the vase that has sharp edges at the ends and moves toward him again. He's still slumped over clutching his nose when she pushes him back against the wall, upright. His face is bloody from his nose and he has bruises from where she kept hitting him at, but she ignores that and clutches his throat tightly in her hand and doesn't give him or her time to think about what she's about to do next and starts to bring the sharp edges of the vase down directly over his heart when someone catches her wrist and stops her. She struggles against the hand still trying to kill Jason.

"Katniss, stop!" Cato yells at her trying to wrench the vase free from her hand.

"No, let me kill him! He deserves to die for what he did to Hagen. I want him to die!" She shouts still struggling and then her arm goes limp. She knows who jabbed her pressure points without even looking because she taught him how to do it.

_Hagan_.

And this makes her stop and lets the other arm fall limp from Jason's neck and then someone lifts her, pulling her away from him. She see's Brutus grabbing Jason from behind the neck and pushes him in the elevator. Everybody is up here now. She feels bile rise to her throat and she throws up in front of her as she thinks about him kissing her.

"Dear god, look at their faces Haymitch!" Effie shrieks. "They can't go into the Games like that!" Haymitch ignores her rants and walks toward Katniss and Cato who is taking her to her room so she can calm down. Cinna, Effie, and Portia help Hagan and lead him off somewhere. Once they get Katniss seated on the bed they stand in front of her. She scowls at them.

"Can you please inform us on what _ the hell_ happened, Sweetheart?" Haymitch says crossing his arms.

"After the interviews ended I quickly grabbed Hagan and we got on the first elevator but Jason caught up to us and got on the same elevator with us. He was touching me and saying dirty thing about how he was going to take me. He was going to touch my ass but Hagan got mad and grabbed his wrist before he could do it and then Jason punched him the face as the elevator opened stumbling back and falling. I tried to help him but Jason pushed me into the wall and then kissed me while choking me to death. I panicked looking for a way out and I jabbed his pressure points and his arm went limp from my neck.

I had dropped to the floor since he had me off the ground by my neck and then he pulled my hair and brought me up to my feet. I pushed all my weight into in making him fall to the ground and I started punching him. He then punched me and pushed me from him and then grabbed me by my hair again dragging me and threw me up against the wall. Hagan came out of nowhere and hit him in with the vase breaking the bottom. Jason soon forgot about me and started toward him telling him he was going to rape me and make him watch and then kill him. I don't know what happened but something in me snapped and I wasn't thinking anymore and I ran toward Hagan and tackled Jason pushing him into the wall. I need him where it hurts for every man and then punched him again and then I brought my knee up and hit him in the nose making it bleed. Grabbed the sharp vase Hagan had dropped and then I guess you saw what happened next. " She explains still scowling.

Cato puts his thumb on her chin and curls his pointer finger under it and tilts her face to the side to examine the damage Jason done.

"How many times did he hit you?" He ask dropping her chin and wipe his thumb over her bleeding lip.

"Once."

"How many times did you hit him?" Haymitch ask surprise.

"8 or more? I don't know, I wasn't counting, I was just hitting to kill him." She shrugs.

Haymitch and Cato look at each other with their eyebrows raised. They can't believe it. Jason is like Cato's size just a little bigger with more muscle and Katniss is like what? Only 5'4 and skinny with little muscles for her size. So how could a little thing that's weighs practically like a feather take on Jason, who is built like a rock? It just doesn't make sense. They both look back at Katniss.

"If it comes down to you three in the arena. Do whatever you just did and make sure you kill him. If you could take him here then you can take him in the arena." Haymitch says slowly.

"Cato, get her changed and then take her to the medics so they can do something with that busted lip of hers. I need a fucking drink because I just don't get shit."

Cato chuckles to himself because he could use a drink too. He walks over to her drawer pulling out a pair of shorts and a shirt for her. He drops them on the bed beside her.

"Do you want to take a shower or just change?" He ask.

"I want to take a shower." She mumbles getting up. She takes his hand in her and grabs the clothes in the other. "…with you." They go into the bathroom and Cato turns the water on. He helps her out of her dress and underwear and she helps undress him. Once they are naked they get in the shower and wash each other slowly kissing everywhere when they wash one spot after another wanting to memorize as much as they can before they never see each other again.

When they are done she puts on the clothes Cato got for her and he puts back on his boxers. They walk out and go to the medic which is somewhere in the building. When they get there, the doctor doesn't say anything and just attends to Katniss's aid putting some kind of cream on her lip and cheek. They leave after a minute with the doctor saying her bruise and busted lip should be gone by morning.

They return to Katniss's room and there is no surprise that Hagan is already in the bed. He's sound asleep, must be from all that happen made him exhausted. Katniss moves over to him, smoothing his hair away from his face and kiss his head before going over to her side and slid in next to him. Cato turns the lights off and gets in next to her. She turns to face him moving closer. She throws one of her legs around his waist and tucks her head under his chin putting it over his heart to listen to it beat. He puts his arms around her to hold on to her, not wanting to let her go. Katniss falls asleep to the steady beat of his heart and he soon follows after her.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

**_ I hoped you guys liked my little surprise. Next chapter is going to be them goimg into the Games. I will upload it this Friday. _**

**_Thank you for all your reviews! And I want to thank my beta also._**

**_PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	7. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

They all wake to Effie's soft knocks on her door. They aren't her usual enthusiastic knocks and her voice is softer than usual.

"You have 2 hours before Haymitch comes to get you."

Hagan gets up first stretching his limbs.

"I'll see you in 2 hours Katniss. Bye Cato." He walks around and gives Cato a hug and then leaves. Katniss picks her head up to look at Cato sadly.

"I'm going to miss you."

Cato grabs her face in his hands and notice the bruise and her busted lip are gone. He kisses her lips softly not wanting to rush anything. He pries her mouth open with his tongue and explores her mouth, sliding one hand down to her side and under her shirt. Katniss massages his scalp with her eyes closed moaning softly. She nips his bottom lip and then sucks it into her mouth.

Cato moves his one hand that's under shirt and puts it on her breast squeezing it softly then roll her hard nipples between his thumb and pointer finger. She lets out a groan that gets lost in his mouth and kisses him harder more forcefully. Cato flips them over so now that he's hovering over her in between her legs. He moves his other hand from her face and grabs the hem of her shirt and then takes the one that was in her shirt and grabs the hem and starts to pull the shirt up. They break the kiss to get the shirt off and then Cato starts to trail kisses down her neck to her collar bone. He licks in between the valley of her breast burying his face in them and then kisses each. He takes one of her nipples in his mouth sucking, nipping, and biting it. She withers underneath him moaning softly as he moves to the other.

He grinds his hard-on into her core making her back arch pushing her breast up closer to his face as he devours them. He groans at the fiction continuing his journey down her stomach. Katniss doesn't catch on to what 's he's going to do until his face is leveled with her hot center and he already has her out of her sleep shorts.

"C-cato….what are you-Oh My God…" She gasps loudly out as his tongue darts out and licks her slit. He has never gone down on her and she has never gone down on him either. It's just something they haven't gotten around to and apparently Cato thinks it's now or never. She can feel herself get even wetter from the feel of his tongue on her. She her voice is high-pitched as she moans with her hands in his hair pulling him closer. He takes one arm puts it on his hips to hold her down and then take his free hand to open her lower lips up to him. He groans softly at the sight of her so exposed to him.

He licks greedily at her entrance then shoves his tongue in her and start pumping in and out of her with. Her back arches off the bed and her eyes roll back in her head.

"Fuck Cato…..."

He moves the hand that's holding her hips down to rub her clit making her moans get louder while chanting his him over and over. He takes his tongue out of her and replaces it with his two fingers and starts to lick her clit and then sucks on it and that is what pushes her over the edge. He licks up her juices and then pulls his fingers out of her and puts them in his mouth sucking them clean while moaning. He tugs his boxers down leaving him naked and moves up her body to her face. He kisses her making her taste herself on his tongue. She moans in his mouth and he pulls away.

"I love the way you taste." He tells her. She shivers at how raw his voice sounds. He lines himself up at her entrance and kisses her slowly as he pushes in her slowly. He wants to go slow with her like the first time they made love out the woods that night. He wants to show her how much he loves her by taking his time.

They both groan in pleasure as he buries himself inside her and then pulls out slowly and pushes back in. Katniss claws at his back probably going to leave him with marks but he doesn't care. They're too lost in their own bliss to notice any kind of pain. Katniss takes Cato's face in her shaky hands making him open his eyes as he still moves slowly in and out of her.

"I love you," She tells him softly as she feels herself about to climax again.

"I loves you too baby." Cato tells her as he stares into her eyes not breaking contact as they both cum calling out each other's name.

They both are panting and breathing heavily when they come down from their high. It takes them a minute to catch their breaths and then Cato finally pulls his soft member out of her and rolls on his side and pulls Katniss against him kissing her cheek. A knock on the door disturbs the quiet peaceful air but they knew all too well that it couldn't stay that way forever.

"Sweetheart hurry up. You got 20 minutes to say goodbye to Lover boy before we have to leave." His voice is muffled by the door that he bangs on and then he walks away.

Everything then becomes too real for Katniss and silent tears spill from her eyes and down to her cheeks wetting them. She doesn't make any sound or wipes them away she just lets them fall. Cato turns her over so she's facing him and pulls her tightly against him kissing the tears away and then kisses her lips. The kiss is salty from her tears but neither of them mine. Soon her tears stop and they pull apart so they can put their clothes back on. Their no point in taking a shower or putting proper clothes on when their final dressing and preparation will be alone in the catacombs under the arena itself.

When they get done Cato wraps his arms around her waist dipping his head and gives her a slow, hot, passionate, memorable kiss and then pulls away pecking her nose, both cheeks, forehead, eyes until he has kissed every spot on her face. She sighs and hugs him tightly before letting go and taking his hand as they walk out of her room. They see Hagan with Haymitch and Effie waiting for them. Katniss lets go of Cato's hand and steps in front of Effie to her a hug.

"I'll miss you dearie." Effie says tearful sniffling. Katniss didn't like Effie in the beginning because she was too chirpy and bright, but she soon found out that it's just an act that she puts on for the Capitol. Effie is really a down to earth, caring person who just really cares about good manners. So Katniss is really going to miss Effie. She was there for her more than her own mother was when she was younger.

"I'll miss you too Effie. Thank you for looking after us." Katniss tells her holding tightly then let's go grabbing her hand in both of hers. "Can you do me a favor Effie?"

"Of course dear."

"Will you be my kids Godmother? I would love for them to be around you and meet you." Katniss ask shakily. Effie means at her through her tears.

"Yes, I would be honored to! Thank you Katniss"

"No. Thank you." She shakes her head and Effie pulls her into one more tight her and then lets her go. She goes to hug Hagan telling him bye and then leaves them with Haymitch crying as she walks away.

"I have to go be with my tributes. Bye guys." Cato announces sadly and gives Hagan a big hug and a kiss on the forehead letting him go. He scoops Katniss in his arms and kisses her lips.

"I'll love you always baby." He mummers against her lips as tears brim his eyes and he blinks them back.

"I'll love you too always and forever." She gives him a watery smile and pulls him down for a long kiss and then break apart. "Be good to them and tell them that I love them all." Cato nods knowing she's talking about her family. "And I'm sorry." She gave him a kiss before he can ask what for and turns away from him starting toward Haymitch and Hagan. He watches her go before he turns around himself and gets in the elevator.

It hurt her to say goodbye to him, but at least she got to see him before she goes to her death. Hagan takes her hand as they go up to the roof where the Hovercraft is waiting for them. When they get outside they both turn to Haymitch.

"Any last-minute advice?" Hagan ask clutching Katniss's hand tightly.

"Don't step off that platform until the countdown is over or they'll blow you sky high. Run from the Cornucopia to somewhere safe and find water. Remember water is your new best friend." He tells them seriously and today he is fully sober. They nod and Hagan hugs him before letting go. Katniss takes Haymitch's hand in her free one and squeeze it tightly.

"Can you do one more favor for me?"

"You know I will." He sighs.

"I want you to be their Godfather. I trust you with them and I know you won't steer them wrong." She tells him. For the first time Haymitch has tears in his eyes. He pulls her tightly against him.

"Of course I will Sweetheart. Thank you so much for trusting me with this." He whispers in her ear. She nods and pulls away.

"Don't forget to tell him. And goodbye Haymitch." Katniss cast him one more look before they get on the hovercraft. They walk to their seats that have their District number on them and finds everybody already here and they are in their pajamas too. A lady in white walks to them holding something in her hand that looks like a needle. She grabs Hagan arm and pushes the needle in making him flinch and then she press a button and then takes it.

"What is that?" Katniss ask as the lady does the same to her. She tries not to flinch when it goes into her skin.

"Your tracker." The lady says. Then walks away. Katniss looks around her at all the tributes and then her eyes spot Jason's who was looking at her the whole time with a smirk on his face. Katniss's eyes quickly drop to her lap as she squeezes Hagan's hand harder. They fly through the air for an hour and then the doors open with Peacekeepers outside as everyone gets off. Katniss quickly hugs Hagan as two peacekeepers split them up and take them to separate rooms.

Katniss steps in hers finding Cinna there waiting for her with open arms. She rushes into them glad to see him before she leaves to face death. He pulls away from her and grabs a plate of food from a table handing it to her then places a cup in her hand.

"Eat and drink." He simply says and sits down in a chair and motions for her to do so. She eats as much as she can. She's so nervous, she could be eating coal dust. When she can't eat no more so drinks all her water and then ask for more thinking she needs as much of it as she can get. After she's done with her second cup Cinna stands up.

"Go shower and I'll get your clothes ready."

She nods and he directs her to a door she hadn't seen because she was too distracted. She closes the door behind her and turns on the shower. After she's done washing she just stands under it trying to soak up as much hot water as she can since this will be her last shower. Cinna takes on the door and then comes in with a towel to dry her off after she steps out. He hands her, her underwear when they leave the bathroom. She puts on the simple black sports bra and underwear. Cinna has no say in what they get to wear in the arena, but he helps her in it anyway. Simple tan cargo pants with multiple pockets, black V-neck short sleeve shirt, sturdy brown belt, and thin, hooded black jacket that falls to her thighs, "The material in the jacket's designed to reflect body heat. Expect some cold nights," he says.

The boots, worn over skin-tight socks, are better than she could have hoped for. Soft leather not like the ones at home. These have narrow flexible rubber sole with treads through. Good for running…

Cinna does her hair in her simple trade mark braid down her back. She thinks she's down when Cinna pulls the gold mockingjay pin from his pocket. She had completely forgotten about it.

"Where did you get that?" She ask.

"Off the green outfit you wore on the train," he says. "It's your districts token, right?" She nods and he fastens it onto her shirt. "There, you're all set. Move around. Make sure everything is comfortable."

She walks around, runs in a circle, and swings her arms about. "Yes, it's fine. Fits perfectly."

"Then there's nothing to do but wait for the call," says Cinna. "Unless you think you can eat more?"

She turns down food but accepts a glass of water that she takes tiny sips as they sit on the couch waiting. Nervousness seeps into terror as she anticipates what is to come for her and her brother. They both could be dead, flat-out dead, in an hour. Not even. To stop herself from thinking negative thoughts her fingers obsessively trace the hard little lump on her forearm where the woman injected the tracker device. She presses on it hard to where it hurts. So hard that a small bruise begins to form. A female voice startles her announcing it's time to prepare for launch.

She reaches out and clutches Cinna's hands and she walks over to and stands on the circular metal plate. "Remember what Haymitch said. Run, find water. The rest will follow." He says. She nods. "And remember this. I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could my money would be on you.

"Truly?" She whispers.

"Truly," he confirms. He leans down and kisses her forehead, "Good luck, girl on fire." And then the glass cylinder is lowering around her, breaking their handhold, cutting him off from her. He taps his fingers under his chin. Head high.

She lifts her chin and stand as straight as possible. She begins to rise and is in blackness for maybe about 15 seconds. The medal plate pushes her out of the cylinder, into the open air. For a moment her eyes are dazzled by the bright sunlight and then a strong wind with a smell of pine? Breezes past her.

Then she hears the legendary Claudius Templesmith, as his voice booms all around her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I hope you enjoyed it. **_

_**So they are finally entering the Games! This is were all the twist will be happening, and some of them are shocking. So be prepared for the chapters to come! Just to let you know it is cannon but a little different. **_

_**Next chapter might be up tomorrow, only if I get more reviews and if I have good internet connection. **_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	8. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games series. **_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Enjoy! **_

* * *

_Sixty seconds_. That's how long they are required to stand on their metal circle before the sound of a gong releases them. Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all around the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shape like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet high, spilling over with the things that will give them life here in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Scattered around the Cornucopia are other supplies, their value decreasing the farther away they are from the horn.

They're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt. Behind the tributes across from Katniss, she can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even a cliff. To her right lies a lake. To her left and back, spare piney woods. This is where Haymitch wants her to go to. _Immediately_.

She can practically hear his instruction. _"Stay away from the bloodbath. Run and find water put as much distance you can between other tributes."_

It's tempting, so tempting but how is she going to defend herself and Hagan with no type of weapon and how will she keep them fed? When she has nothing to hunt with. She knows she has to go into the bloodbath when her eyes fall on a silver sheath of arrows and a bow, already strung. _That's mine. It's meant for me…_ She thinks.

She's small, she can sprint fast enough it's only forty-yards away. She knows she can get to it first but then how quickly could she get their? By the time she scrambled up the packs and grabbed the weapon, other's will have reached the horn by then and they could kill her easily. But she only see's one bow in that whole pile. So she sets her feet in position to run toward the horn.

_39_

_38_

The monotone voice counts down. Katniss looks for Hagan who is five tributes to her right, quiet a fair distance. Then she looks for Jason and finds him right beside her. _Of course they would put him beside me. They know he wants me._ She thinks bitterly and turns her attention back to Hagan who is positioning his feet to run toward the horn just like her. She frowns at that. _Why the hell isn't he running away?_

She tries to get his attention but he doesn't budge from looking straight ahead.

_5_

_4_

_3_

The bow is completely forgotten as she shifts her feet straight for Hagan at the last second and then the gong sounds throughout the arena. She lunges forward, scoops up a sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread that were by her. The pickings are so small and she's so angry with Hagan and she sprints twenty yards to retrieve a bright orange backpack that could hold anything she put in it. A boy picks it up at the same time she does and they play tug-a-war for a minute, then he coughs, splattering her face with blood. She staggers back, wiping her face with her free hand. The boy falls to the ground. That's when she sees the knife in his back. That means the other tributes have reach the Cornucopia already, spreading out to attack. The girl from District 2, Clove, ten yards away clutching another knife ready to throw, but when she catches her eye she nods her head and turns around, pretending she didn't see her.

She would have stood there confused to find out what that meant, but she has no time, so she hastily swings the back over her shoulder and finds two spears a few inches away from her. She grabs them, at least having some sort of weapons in her hands. She takes a few seconds to locate Hagan and see him, running towards the woods, not that far away. She sprints to him as he breaks into the woods. She also sees a figure running toward him too.

The girl from 4 with a knife in her hand ready to throw.

"Hagan! Dunk!" Katniss screams making him turn around, seeing the knife coming at him that the girl released. He quickly dunks at the last second and then Katniss throws one of the spears, with accuracy, at the girl. It zips through the air and makes impact with the girls back. Katniss turns her head away as the girl slumps to the ground and keeps at it until she gets to Hagan, who is still crouched down, looking at the dead girl she just killed.

_Her first kill._

Katniss pulls him by his arm with her free hand and drags him along with her. He stumbles a little, still in shocked at what just happened. Then he regains his composure and runs at the same speed as her. They continue to run, until the woods hides them from the other tributes, then they slow into a steady jog that they both can maintain for a while. For hours they switch between jogging and walking, putting as much distances they can between their competitors. They don't talk knowing it's not the time for it, **_yet_**. Katniss is so mad at Hagan now, she could….she doesn't even know what she could do because she's so pissed. Hagan stays quiet, knowing she's mad by the death grip she's got on his arm, digging her nails into his skin every time she glances at him.

They keep walking, only stopping to check other pursuers. She doesn't dare to stop to check what's in her pack. Its late afternoon when they begin to hear the cannons. Each shot represents a dead tribute. The fighting must have finally stopped at the Cornucopia. They never collect the dead bodies until the killers have disappeared. On the opening day they don't even fire the cannons until the initial fighting's over because it's too hard to keep track. They pause, panting as they count the shots.

_One_

_Two_

_Three_

_…Twelve_

Twelve dead in all. She killed one of those out of the twelve. She wonders if she hadn't warned Hagan about the knife, would he be among them? She shakes the thought from her mind, getting mad all over again because she wouldn't have had to do that if he would have just fucking followed what Haymitch said. They don't know who died, but in a few hours they will know when they project the dead's images into the sky for the rest of them to see.

* * *

They keep walking looking for water. They need water to survive. When they reach a pond they slump down on the ground, exhausted. They sit the stuff they got from the horn beside them. Then Katniss springs up, pacing back in forward in front of Hagan, scowling at him. He sighs knowing it was coming sooner or later. He rather sooner.

"Okay, say it."

"What is wrong with you? How could you put your _fucking_ life on the line that like? What the _fuck_ was so tempting that you just had to run to the Cornucopia so badly?" She hisses at him. He flinches, standing up and grabbing what he got at the Cornucopia. Which she hasn't seen yet.

"I was getting the bow and arrows for you. I knew you would need it to protect us both and hunt. And who are you to scold me when you didn't listen either. Your being a hypocrite Kat." He says throwing his hands in the air. She looks at the bow in his hands. _Her bow. It as meant for her._ But then it doesn't matter anymore because he could have been dead if she didn't warn him.

"It's not about that damn bow. You could have been dead with the rest of the _twelve_ tributes already dead if I hadn't warned you about that knife." She hisses again.

"But you did warn me and look at me now! I'm alive because of you. So what's the big deal? I got the fucking bow for you. Now you have something to protect us with." He retorts back. She huffs frustrated with him.

"Watch your damn mouth and when the fuck did you get so damn stubborn." She sighs looking up at the sky, pitching the bridge of her nose and puts the other hand on her hip. Hagan shrugs, smirking at her.

"I guess you're starting to rub off on me." She shoots him a glare, dropping her hand, but can't help the smile that tugs on her lips.

"Shut up." She says smiling and then gives him hug. He hugs her back. "But don't you ever scare me like that again. Do you hear me?" She shakes his shoulders. He nods.

"I hear you Kat."

"Good, now let us see what we have in the pack I manage to pick up for us." She says taking her hands from him and sits down next to the pack again. He drops down next to her. Placing the bow on the ground. She unhook the straps and can feel its sturdy made although it has a rather bright color. It will practically glow in the dark which means it need to be camouflaged soon. She flips open the flap. She hands all the provisions out to Hagan who lays them carefully. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat. A pack of crackers. Two packs of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. A long piece of thick rope. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that's bone dry.

Luckily they already found a water source. So water is the least of their worries right now. She hands Hagan the water container and tells him to fill it up and then hands him the iodine and to put two drops of that in it. Now they need to find a place to sleep for the night. So they refill the pack and Katniss remembers she tucked the plastic in her sleeve and takes it out putting it in the bag also. She lost the bread on the struggle with the boy. Once he is done getting the water for them he starts to camouflage the bright pack using mud by the pond trying to cover every inch of it.

Twilight is coming quickly when Katniss looks up at the sky. She knows they are both hungry, but doesn't want to start on what they have yet. She has her bow and arrows to hunt and the wire for snaring. So they need to work quickly before it hits night-time.

"Can you set the snares up while I hunt?" She ask Hagan as she picks up the sheath of arrows and slide it over her head and then picks up the bow. He nods digging into the pack and pulling out the wire. He stands up with it in his hands and they walk quietly on hunter's feet. Hagan stops as she keeps going to set the snares up not wanting to be away from their pack.

Katniss looks up at the trees for any sign of a bird. She frowns when she can't see any.

"Hey Hagan when you're done. Can you come here?" She ask. He nods and quickly finishing the second snare and then moving over to her.

"What?" He ask her.

"Do you hear that?" She ask him. He's quiet for a few minutes and then nods slightly.

"It's almost dark. Some of them are still up." He comments, faintly hearing the bird chirp. Katniss crouches down grabbing a rock and then stands back up handing the rock to Hagan. He raises an eyebrow at her. "What do you want me to do with this?"

She takes out one of her arrows and position it on her bow. "Throw the rock at a tree when I tell you to." He nods waiting for her signal. "Okay, now." She raises her bow and waits for the rock to connect with a tree. It does and a flock of birds start to fly away. She quickly shoots one down and then reloads the way only a real skilled hunter can do and fires another arrow. Two birds drop to the ground. They grin at each other and she goes to retrieve the two birds. When she spots them she sees she shot them right in the eye. She takes the arrow out of them and then picks up the two birds going back to Hagan.

They go back to where they left their bag, dropping the two birds next to it and sitting down their selves. Katniss then frowns at the two birds.

"What's wrong?" Hagan ask noticing her frown.

"I can't skin the bird with no knife."

"Oh, wait I forgot what else I had." He then digs into his many pockets on his pants leg and pulls out two knives. "They were by the bow. So I thought we would be able to use them." He hands her one and keeps the other for himself. She takes it, examining it.

"I guess near death experience was worth it." She says dryly. He laughs by the way she said it.

"Get over it Kat. Don't act like you weren't going to go for the bow yourself." He says. She scowls.

"Well of course I was going for it. We would be too vulnerable without it." She replies starting to pluck the birds feathers. He rolls his eyes.

"So I guess near death experience was worth it." He mocks her. She scowls at him.

"Don't use my words against me. You should have just listened to Haymitch." She shakes her head picking up the knife and starts gutting the bird. He shrugs.

"If we listened to Haymitch, we wouldn't have what we have right now Kat. You know I'm right."

"I guess you're right. God I bet Haymitch is cursing us out right now." She chuckles finishing with the two birds. Hagan laughs with her and then looks at the two birds.

"How are we going to cook those?" he ask, not wanting to start a fire this late.

"We'll cook them tomorrow. I don't want to draw attention to us, even though we are a good distance away from the Careers. I guess we'll have to eat tomorrow then." She shrugs. "Hand me the plastic so I can wrap them up." He digs in the bag and hands her the plastic.

"Where are we sleeping?" He ask. She stands up, bending down to put the wrapped bird meat in the bag and then grabs the sheath of arrows, putting it over her head, grabbing the bow and then swings the pack over her shoulder. Hagan stands after her grabbing the spear that is left.

"In the trees. They will conceal us and I rather sleep above ground so we won't be easy targets." She explains walking looking for a good tree that will hold both of them, but close enough to the pond for their water source. She finds a willow tree with a big branch that both of them can fit on only 5 feet away from the pond. "Come on."

They walk to the tree and now stand at the trunk of it looking up.

"How high are we going to climb?" Hagan ask. She shrugs.

"Let's find out." She says and puts the bow on her shoulder so she can use her hands. She climbs first going onto the second branch and then he climbs after her. Both of them are like squirrels by how quickly they move up the tree with no problem. They stop about 15 feet up and sit on a thick branch with their legs out in front of them. Katniss takes the pack off her shoulder and digs into it looking for the sleeping bag and the rope. She pulls it out, handing the rope to Hagan and unravels the sleeping bag.

She tucks the pack down at the bottom of the sleeping bag and then tells Hagan to slide in first. He hands her his spear and the rope. He reaches above him gripping the small branch and moves his legs into the bag then let's go of the branch pulling the bag up to his waist. Katniss hands him the stuff back and then carefully slides in the bag herself. It's a tight fit but there is still a little wiggle room she hands the spear back to him. Their back on the tree with their feet out in front of them and the bag pulled up to their waist. She unravels the long rope and then wrap it around the branch and their waist so they won't fall off the tree in their sleep.

Katniss takes the bow from her shoulder and then load it with an arrow just in case. Hagan holds the spear across his lap like her and watch as the sky gets darker. The anthem should start when it's completely dark in about a few minutes and then after it's over the Careers will go out hunting for other tributes like they do every year.

The anthem starts and they stare up at the sky waiting to see the faces of the dead. Through the branches they can see the Capitol seal floating in the sky. Then the sky goes dark again they take a deep breath as the images appear.

The girl from District 3. That means Marvel, Glimmer, Jason and Clove are still alive. They both aren't surprised by that. It's unheard of for a Career to die during the bloodbath.

Both from 4. She killed the girl and the other Careers must have already started turning on each other since the boy is dead…unless someone else killed him.

The boy from 5. The girl that looks like a fox made it. She seemed sneaky during training.

Both from 6 and 7.

The boy from 8.

Both from 9. The one that sputter blood on Katniss face.

And the girl from District 10.

Then it's black again. Katniss lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She's glad Rue is still alive. That means 12 of them are left. Four Career Tributes, Foxface, Thresh , Rue, boy from 3, girl from 8, boy from 10, plus Katniss and Hagan.

"There's only 12 of us left." Hagan voices her thoughts. She nods.

"Let's just go to sleep." He nods and they try to get comfortable on the branch and then slowly fall asleep listening to the night creatures noises.

* * *

_Snap!_

Katniss is startled awake by hearing crackling fire. She trains her eyes, not that far away on smoke. Someone started a fire near her tree. _How stupid can this person be?_ She wonders, hoping it doesn't draw the Careers to her tree. She wants to yell at the person for being so stupid, but then that would give away her location.

She hears multiple feet running and she knows it's the Career pack. They're coming to kill the person that started the fire. That means if it's a girl, Jason will probably kill her after he rapes her and that makes Katniss want to gag. She knows if it was her and she was facing Jason she would want someone to kill her quickly before Jason gets his hands on her. She's torn between going to see if it's a girl and help her when Jason gets there, or staying in the tree safely with Hagan who is still sound asleep.

She looks up at her tree thinking if she can climb high enough she would be able to see the person at the fire. She quickly unties the rope from her waist and slips out of the sleeping bag tying the rope back around Hagan. She hears the Career tributes laugh which means they must have gotten to the fire. Now she knows it's a girl when she starts pleading for them not to kill her.

She knows what she's doing is stupid but she can't leave that poor girl at the hands of Jason. So she starts to climb higher her tree until she is able to see clearly. They are not that far from her at all. It's shooting distance. And what she see's disturbs her to her core.

Everybody is circled around the girl making no room for escape as Jason approaches her slowly. She can't see his face but from the way the girl is looking at him is all the image she needs. He takes out a knife and then grabs both of the girls wrist pinning them above her head. She starts kicking her legs to get him off of her but he doesn't budge and just stabs her leg dragging the knife in her skin. Now Katniss is really on the verge of throwing up.

The girl screams in pain and he pulls the knife out and starts cutting away her shirts and under garments leaving her breast exposed. She can hear the girl sobbing and Jason's dark laugh. Katniss gasp eye wide. Of course she knew Cato was telling the truth about Jason raping girls in his district. But what makes it so real and disgusting is that this is what Jason is intending to do to her. She snaps out of her thoughts as she sees him cutting away her pants. She fumbles with getting an arrow out because her hands are trembling. _Thank god Hagan isn't awake for this_. She thinks as she loads her bow. She raises it and brings the string back close to her face. She steadies her breathing and closes one eye and trains the other on her target. Before she releases the arrow she says a simple goodbye to the girl and then the arrow is release.

She knows the arrow hit its target when the canon goes off. She freezes, not daring to breath as she hears Jason roar into the night sky. She then see's him get up and starts walking. She snaps out of it quickly and scurries down to her spot next to Hagan, who woke up by Jason's loud roar.

"Ka-" She puts her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking and they sit still as they hear Jason and the other's walk by their tree talking.

"Who do you think shot that arrow?" a boy ask.

"Whoever did it is going to be dead by tomorrow for ruining my pleasure." That can only be Jason's voice.

"They should be close by. No one can shoot that far." a boy says.

"I think it was that girl from 12's little brother. I saw him running with the bow in his hand at the bloodbath." A girl with a squeaky voice says. She must be the dumb blond from District 1.

"Well whoever it is, is gone by now. Since you guys stood here talking letting him/her get away. So let's just go back to our camp and start again tomorrow." A girl says sharply and you can hear her walking away and everybody following her away from the tree.

Katniss and Hagan still stay still for a while and then relax knowing they are far away now. She takes her hand away from Hagan's mouth sliding back in the sleeping bag.

"What were they talking about Kat?" He whispers.

"I think it's better if you don't know." She says quietly, leaning back closing her eyes.

"If I don't know? Katniss they were talking about **_me_ **having the bow and thinking I shot an arrow not too long ago. I think I deserve to know." He hisses. She sighs, still keeping her eyes closed.

"A girl. I don't know from what district but she had lit a fire that woke me up. Then the Careers came after her. I couldn't just leave her in the hands of Jason. You know what he tried to do to me that night and I didn't want her to suffer. So I got up and climbed high enough so I could see them and they all made no way for her to escape. Jason held her down and then stabbed her leg dragging the knife. She was screaming and crying and then he started cutting away her shirt leaving her expose. I couldn't let her go through that so I shot her with an arrow making her die quickly before Jason got too far. I was just horrible Hay." She explains shuddering. Hagan gasp at what she's telling him.

"You mean he was going to….to…." He can't even finish the word himself.

"Yes, he was." She confirms.

"That's what he's planning on doing to you? Oh my-" He shakes his head not wanting to believe it. She reaches out blindly for his hand until she finds it. She gives it squeeze.

"He's not going to Hay. Don't worry about it." She says still squeezing his hand. He nods, knowing she can't see him with her eyes still closed. "Let's go back to sleep."

"Okay." He says and leans his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. After a few minutes they are both asleep.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**Sorry if that was a little dark. And just to let you know, I would never do a dark dark scene because I can't even stand reading dark scense, let alone write them. **_

_**There is more to come, my good reviewers. It will have you on the edges of your seats or on your toes, swearing, and you will probably end up cursing me out sooner or later. So just a heads up in advance, sorry.**_

**_The next update will be on my usual day, which is Friday. I am also happy that you all are liking my story._**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! _**


	9. Chapter 8

**_A/N:_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games series. _**

**_See you at the bottom..._**

**_Enjoy! _**

* * *

_Through Mentor's Eyes_

Haymitch can't believe the impact the girl and the boy made on his heart. Normally he stops caring about if his tributes come home or not. But now he cares_. Deeply._

He's done drinking for good because with the responsibility Katniss gave him, has made him change for them. He won't be a drunk around her kids. No, they deserve better than that. He feels like he wants to cry at how she can trust him with her babies. He believes her when she says Hagan will come back. He has his faith in her.

He makes his way off the roof to go down to the Mentor Room with everybody else. He gets there and sits in the open viewing room instead of going into the private rooms each district has. Not soon after everyone he watches the Games with every year start to trickle in. Brutus, Cato; District 2. Johanna; District 7. Finnick; District 4. Cecelia and Chaff; District 11. They all sit on the long curve couch with the big screen in the middle. Cato sits beside Haymitch, looking defeated.

"I would ask what's wrong with you, but I already know the answer." Haymitch grunts crossing his arms while looking at the screen. The screen is blank because there is another hour until the Games begin.

"What's wrong with him?" Jo ask.

"Katniss is going to die. That's what's wrong with me." Cato snaps. She rolls her eyes.

"I knew that." She says.

"Whatever." Cato mumbles slumping back into the couch.

"So do you all really believe she can get her little brother out?" Finnick ask curiously. Johanna shrugs.

"Don't know. She sounded confident in her interview. Deadly even. I think there is a slight chance." She states.

"I believe she can. She's strong-headed." Cecelia says. Chaff nods.

"Well of course I do." Cato says. Haymitch nods and so does Finnick.

"I wonder what's going to happen with her kids when she's dead. Who gets them?" Jo ask.

"I do." Cato says. They all look at him except Haymitch who already knows this.

"Why you? You're not even the father. Why would you want someone else's kids? Even if you were in a relationship." Jo ask raising an eyebrow. Cato glares at her.

"You don't know the whole story." Haymitch grunts.

"Then please, tell us because we would love to know." She says sarcastically.

"Katniss and I first met each other when she was 6 and I was 8. She was very short-tempered back then and still is today. She punched me in the face because I called her a little Spitfire. Then after that we were inseparable. I know her family and everything about her. She's not like the other girls, she's different. She was the reason that I won my games because she told me I couldn't leave her. I hadn't seen her since my Victory Tour in 12 and we spent the night together in the woods. That was like a year or something ago. When she was brought here we reunited and she asked me if I could be the father to her kids because she wants them to have a real Dad. So I said yes. End of story." Cato explained.

"Wait, so the real father isn't in those kids life? What a fucking dick." Finnick says. Everybody nods except Haymitch.

"Yeah, Haymitch told me he didn't want anything to do with them and that she had to raise them on her own with her families help." Cato says. Jo shakes her head.

"At least she had her family. Were you mad when she told you they weren't yours?"

"I mean yeah and disappointed really. But I didn't want to be mad at her while she was here since she was going into the arena, so I just sucked it up." He says.

"Wait….In her interview she said that she didn't have to worry about her kids because she knows that her family and their father will take care of them. I thought he wasn't in their lives." Finnick says confused.

"She was probably referring to Cato. Since she asked him to be a father to them." Cecelia says. They nod.

"So do any of you know how she got that 11 and her brother getting that 8?" Chaff ask. They all shrug even Cato.

"I at least expected that you knew Cato." Jo says. He shakes his head shrugging again.

"I never asked her." They all turn to Haymitch who has been awfully quiet.

"Do you know Haymitch?" Brutus ask. He shrugs.

"The boy is good with spears. He says Katniss taught him back home how to us them. And Katniss is good with a bow and arrows. She shot an arrow at the Game makers for not paying any attention to her while her life was on the line." He smirks. Everybody stares at him and then burst out laughing.

"Why does that sound so much like Katniss?" Cato chuckles.

"Even I didn't think of doing something like that!" Jo exclaims.

"That girl really does have a temper on her." Brutus grunts.

"Oh you have no idea." Cato says. "You should have seen her after the interviews were over."

"Wait…what happened?" Chaff ask.

"Well, you know how Jason said in his interview that he wanted her?" He ask them they nod

"Okay and you remember what Katniss said back?"

"Yeah, it made my skin crawl at how deadly and dark she looked." Finnick fakes shivers.

"Yeah well apparently when the interview was over she rushed into the elevator with Hagan trying to get out of there first." He starts.

"That's it? That's nothing." Jo says not interested anymore. Cato glares at her.

"I wasn't finished. Anyway Jason had gotten on that elevator with them and according to Katniss he was talking to her and telling her things that he was going to do to her. He tried touching her but Hagan step in and then Jason punched Hagan." Everybody gasp, even Brutus because he didn't know the whole story he only seen Jason with a bloody nose when he got there.

"Hagan stumbled out of the elevator and fell. Katniss tried to get to him but she got pulled back by Jason. He slammed her against the wall, choking her and then started kissing her. She said she panicked and then jabbed the pressure points in his arm, making him let go of her. He picked her up by her hair, so she pushes all her weight into him making him fall over. Then jumped on top of him and started hitting him over and over again." Everybody is staring at him in disbelief.

"He punched her one time and then pushed her off of him getting back up, grabbing her by her hair again throwing her into the wall. She said Hagan came out of nowhere and hit him with a glass vase on the back of his head. Jason then started going after him, telling him that he was going to make him watch as he raped her. Katniss said something in her snapped as she ran toward him tackling him into the wall. She then kneed him in his balls, making him bend over and then punched him again and then kneed him in the nose making it bleed."

"Oh my god, she did all of this while she was in a dress?" Cecelia ask. Haymitch nods.

"The boy's not finished telling you everything." He grunts gesturing for Cato to continue.

"Where was I? Oh yeah and then she grabbed the top of vase with sharp edges and went back to Jason and started choking him. By the time Haymitch, me and Brutus got there she was a second away from stabbing his heart out with that piece of vase. I had stopped her before she could and she kept saying_ 'Let me kill him' 'He deserves to die for what he did to Hagan'._ I had to pry the vase out of her hand and then drag her away. She threw up on the floor then and stopped fighting."

"My kind of girl" Jo smirks after a minute. "Did she have a bruise or anything?"

"Jason had a bruises on both his cheeks and a bloody nose." Brutus tells them.

"Hagan only had a bruised cheek and Katniss had a busted lip and a bruised cheek for only getting hit once." Haymitch answers.

"How the hell does a tiny girl like her take on Jason, who I might add is built like a boulder and she get more hits in than he can?" Chaff exclaims. "That's just fucking unheard of."

"That's what Haymitch and I thought when she was telling us this." Cato exclaims back.

"She's dangerous. When we were on the train and Hagan asked for advice. I told them to_ 'stay alive'_ and then laughed. Hagan punched me in the jaw and it wasn't no weak punch. And when I was about to hit him back she jumped up like Cat reflexes and caught my arm in midair and then jabbed my pressure points making my arm go limp." Haymitch tells them. Everybody laughs at this.

"Serves you right for trying to punch a twelve-year-old." Jo states smirking. He rolls his eyes at her.

"Whatever. I was drunk then." He says. "And did you hear that she had to have a Peacekeeper follow her around during training because Jason grabbed her ass and said something to her. So she pushed him up against the wall choking him and threatening to kill him. She gets her short temper from her father."

"Dear lord what hasn't she done?" Finnick smirks amused by all the stories.

"You mean what has she done." Jo corrects him. He rolls his eyes playfully.

"No. I meant what I said Jo bear." She glares at him.

"Don't call me that Fish brains." She snaps. He shrugs not affected by her.

"So anyways. What do you guys think about your tributes?" Finnick ask.

"Mine won't last after the bloodbath. Seriously they come from District 7, a lumber district, and don't even know how to pick up an ax." Jo says exasperated. They all roll their eyes at her.

"Thresh and Rue have a good chance. Rue wanted to be allies with Katniss and Hagan but was too scared to ask them." Chaff says.

"Don't know why. She has a soft spot for her." Cato says. They nod.

"Well the girl tribute is too cocky and if she isn't careful she'll end up getting herself killed. The boy is just weak with no muscle." Finnick says.

"Jason will probably make it far if he doesn't run into Katniss. Clove will make it far too." Brutus states.

"We all know about Katniss and Hagan, so you don't have to say anything." Jo says to Haymitch who just shrugs.

"I wasn't going to."

"How much longer until the Games start?" Cato ask.

"In a minute or so." Brutus answers looking at his watch. They nod and direct their attention to the big screen. The screen comes to life after a minute and shows the arena for everybody to see and then shows the tributes in a ring around it.

"This is perfect for Katniss." Haymitch says. Cato nods.

"Hey, look what they did. They put Jason right by Katniss. Isn't that fucking great?" Jo says sarcastically. Everybody shakes their head at this.

"And they put Hagan away from her." Chaff grunts.

"They did this on purpose." Cato says. Everybody nods and continues to watch the screen as Claudius Templesmith welcomes them. Then the countdown starts. Haymitch sees Katniss shift her feet toward the horn.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Haymitch says pissed.

"What?" Cato ask.

"Look at Katniss's position." He points at the screen. Cato sighs.

"Honestly I saw this coming. She won't leave empty-handed. You should have known that." He shrugs.

"Hey look at Hagan. He's going in the same direction as her." Jo comments pointing to the screen. They look closely and see what she's talking about.

"Does he take after her or something?" Haymitch ask irritated. "They are going to get themselves killed in the first hour. Why can't they just listen to directions?"

"Katniss changed her position and is now headed for Hagan frowning." Brutus says. Everybody watches as the last second is finished and the gong sounds. They are all tense as they watch Katniss grab plastic and bread by her and sprints to an orange bag. Hagan sprints quickly than most tributes grabbing the bow and arrows putting them over his shoulder and then spots two nice looking knifes on the ground and picks them up quickly stuffing them in his packet.

"I honestly though Katniss was going to go for the bow, not Hagan." Jo comments.

"She was going for the bow, but then she got too worried about Hagan. Hagan must have gotten it for her. " Cato explains still watching the screen.

"Cato did you see that?" Brutus ask. He nods. He saw Clove posed to throw a knife at Katniss but then nods and turns away quickly.

"What was that all about?" Finnick ask. They shrug.

"Don't really know."

"Oh my god Finnick. What is your girl doing?" Jo gasps. "She must have a serious death wish if she's going after Hagan."

The girl from 4 is running after Hagan raising a knife to throw it at him. They see Katniss running after him and then she spots the girl just as she's about to release the knife and yells for Hagan to duck.

"Oh my god. Your girl is dead." Jo says as they see Hagan turn around and duck at the last second.

"That was fucking close." Brutus grunts. Then they watch as Katniss throws a spear hitting the girl in her back and the girl drops to the ground.

"That's her first kill." Cato says.

"Your girl was fucking stupid to go after him. Your right she was cocky and would get herself killed." Jo says bluntly. Finnick merely shrugs, not caring.

"See this is what I was talking about. They could have been killed!" Haymitch exclaims.

"Oh stop pissing your pants. They don't look dead, do they?" Jo rolls her eyes.

"Yea at least they are running away from the fight now. So they should be safe." Chaff says. Haymitch still stays mad as they watch other tributes fight and then the fighting is over after an hour.

"Jason is so brutal." Cecelia comments in disgust. She had watched him kill majority of the tributes that didn't get away.

"Eleven dead already. I think these games aren't going to take that long to end." Finnick comments. They nod in agreement.

_They keep walking looking for water. They need water to survive. When they reach a pond they slump down on the ground, exhausted. They sit the stuff they got from the horn beside them. Then Katniss springs up pacing back in forward in front of Hagan scowling at him. He sighs knowing it was coming sooner or later. He rather sooner._

"At least they found water." Haymitch grunts.

"Look at her face. She looks like she's about to blow up." Jo comments, amused.

"I think we are about to witness a sister and brother fight." Chaff chuckles.

"_Okay, say it."_

_"What is wrong with you? How could you put your fucking life on the line that like? What the fuck was so tempting that you just had to run to the Cornucopia so badly?" She hisses at him. He flinches standing up and grabbing what he got at the Cornucopia._

"What a fucking hypocrite. She was going to do the same thing before she saw him." Jo exclaims.

_"I was getting the bow and arrows for you. I knew you would need it to protect us both and hunt. And who are you to scold me when you didn't listen either. Your being a hypocrite Kat." He says throwing his hands in the air. She looks at the bow in his hands._

"I told you all he was probably getting the bow for her." Cato smirks. They roll there eyes.

"See he agrees with me." Jo says.

_"It's not about that damn bow. You could have been dead with the rest of the tributes already dead if I hadn't warned you about that knife." She hisses again._

"See that was exactly what I was thinking." Haymitch grunts.

_"But you did warn me and look at me now! I'm alive because of you. So what's the big deal? I got the fucking bow for you. Now you have something to protect us with." He retorts back. She huffs frustrated with him_

"Oh my god. When did he get a mouth on him?" Cecelia gasp while everybody chuckles.

"He got it from her. They are basically the same but Hagan is a bit more tamed than her." Cato explains.

"_Watch your damn mouth and when the fuck did you get so damn stubborn." She sighs looking up at the sky pitching the bridge of her nose and puts the other hand on her hip. Hagan shrugs smirking at her._

"Ha. Who is she to talk?" Finnick laughs.

_"I guess you're starting to rub off on me." She shoots him a glare dropping her hand but can't help the smile that tugs on her lips._

"Damn right he is." Haymitch grunts. "They're both fucking stubborn."

"She won't be able to stay mad at him for long." Cato says.

_"Shut up." She says smiling and then gives him hug. He hugs her back. "But don't you ever scare me like that again. Do you hear me?" She shakes his shoulders. He nods._

_"I hear you Kat."_

_"Good, now let us see what we have in the pack I manage to pick up for us." She says taking her hands off of him and sits down next to the pack again. He drops down next to her. Placing the bow on the ground. She unhook the straps and can feel its sturdy made although it has a rather bright color. It will practically glow in the dark which means it need to be camouflaged soon. She flips open the flap. She hands all the provisions out to Hagan who lays them carefully. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat. A pack of crackers. Two packs of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. A long piece of thick rope. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that's bone dry._

"They actually manage to get good supplies." Brutus says.

"Lucky she already found a water source." Chaff comments.

"Yea one of the things I told them." Haymitch grumbles.

"Aw, is Hay mad because nobody listens to him?" Jo makes a pouty face like she's talking to a baby.

"Fuck off Johanna." He snaps at her. She smiles.

"Then what would be the fun in that?"

_Luckily they already found a water source. So water is the least of their worries right now. She hands Hagan the water container and tells him to fill it up and then hands him the iodine and to put two drops of that in it. Now they need to find a place to sleep for the night. So they refill the pack and Katniss remembers she tucked the plastic in her sleeve and takes it out putting it in the bag also. She lost the bread on the struggle with the boy. Once he is done getting the water for them he starts to camouflage the bright pack using mud by the pond trying to cover every inch of it._

_Twilight is coming quickly when Katniss looks up at the sky. She knows they are both hungry but doesn't want to start on what they have yet. She has her bow and arrows to hunt and the wire for snaring. So they need to work quickly before it hits night-time._

_"Can you set the snares up while I hunt?" She ask Hagan as she picks up the sheath of arrows and slide it over her head and then picks up the bow. He nods digging into the pack and pulling out the wire. He stands up with it in his hands and they walk quietly on hunter's feet. Hagan stops as she keeps going to set the snares up not wanting to be away from their pack._

"Smart for camouflaging the pack." Finnick comments.

"They need to find somewhere to sleep. Not go out hunting." Cato grunts

"No. I want to see what she can really do with that bow of hers." Jo says.

_Katniss looks up at the trees for any sign of a bird. She frowns when she can't see any._

"Why is she frowning" Cecelia ask. They all shrug.

"_Hey Hagan when you're done. Can you come here?" She ask. He nods and quickly finishing the second snare and then moving over to her._

_"What?" He ask her._

_"Do you hear that?" She ask him. He's quiet for a few minutes and then nods slightly._

"What the hell are they listening for?" Jo ask confused.

"Just watch." Cato comments.

_"It's almost dark. Some of them are still up." He comments, faintly hearing the bird chirp. Katniss crouches down grabbing a rock and then stands back up handing the rock to Hagan. He raises an eyebrow at her. "What do you want me to do with this?"_

"Oh, they're talking about birds." Chaff says catching on.

"How is she going to take down a bird with a rock?" Finnick ask. Haymitch shakes his head at his stupidity

"She isn't going to take it down with a rock dumbass."

_She takes out one of her arrows and position it on her bow. "Throw the rock at a tree when I tell you to." He nods waiting for her signal. "Okay, now." She raises her bow and waits for the rock to connect with a tree. It does and a flock of birds start to fly away. She quickly shoots one down and then reloads the way only a real skilled hunter can do and fires another arrow. Two birds drop to the ground. They grin at each other and she goes to retrieve the two birds._

"Oh, now I get it." Finnick says slowly.

"I'm impressed. She took them down without even blinking." Jo smirks.

"Who taught her that?" Brutus ask.

"Her dad taught her everything she knows." Cato replies.

"Well I'll be damned." Chaff comments.

_Katniss then frowns at the two birds._

_"What's wrong?" Hagan ask noticing her frown._

_"I can't skin the bird with no knife."_

"That's true." Chaff comments.

"The boy has a knife on him." Haymitch says.

_"Oh, wait I forgot what else I had." He then digs into his many pockets on his pants leg and pulls out two knives. "They were by the bow. So I thought we would be able to use them." He hands her one and keeps the other for himself. She takes it examining it._

"He got two good-looking knives. They can cut through anything." Cato comments.

_"I guess near death experience was worth it." She says dryly. He laughs by the way she said it._

_"Get over it Kat. Don't act like you weren't going to go for the bow yourself." He says. She scowls._

_"Well of course I was going for it. We would be too vulnerable without it." She replies starting to pluck the birds feathers. He rolls his eyes._

_"So I guess near death experience was worth it." He mocks her. She scowls at him._

_"Don't use my words against me. You should have just listened to Haymitch." She shakes her head picking up the knife and starts gutting the bird. He shrugs._

_"If we listened to Haymitch we wouldn't have what we have right now Kat. You know I'm right."_

_"I guess you're right. God I bet Haymitch is cursing us out right now." She chuckles finishing with the two birds. Hagan laughs with her and then looks at the two birds._

Everybody laughs at them bickering.

"It's funny when they have their moments." Cecelia says.

"Hagan is something else." Chaff chuckles.

"Damn right, I'm still pissed." Haymitch grumbles.

"I like these two." Jo says smiling.

_"How are we going to cook those?" he ask not wanting to start a fire this late._

_"We'll cook them tomorrow. I don't want to draw attention to us even though we are a good distance away from the Careers. I guess we'll have to eat tomorrow then." She shrugs. "Hand me the plastic so I can wrap them up." He digs in the bag and hands her the plastic._

"Smart thinking." Finnick mumbles.

"Haymitch why don't you send them some food?" Cato ask. He shakes his head.

"No, they can wait a day without eating and besides I don't want to waste their sponsor money on unimportant things."

"Bullshit! They have way more sponsor money than any other tribute still alive." Cato says fuming.

"Calm down boy. You don't think I know this? I do. Katniss is smart. She can hunt for their food and find a way to cook it without drawing attention to their selves." Haymitch says getting irritated. Cato slumps back into the couch, knowing he's right.

"_Where are we sleeping?" He ask. She stands up bending down to put the wrapped bird meat in the bag and then grabs the sheath of arrows putting it over her head, grabbing the bow and then swings the pack over her shoulder. Hagan stands after her grabbing the spear that is left._

_"In the trees. They will hide us and I rather sleep above ground so we won't be easy targets." She explains walking looking for a good tree that will hold both of them, but close enough to the pond for their water source. She finds a willow tree with a big branch that both of them can fit on only 5 feet away from the pond. "Come on."_

_They walk to the tree and now stand at the trunk of it looking up._

"That's a smart thing to do. Because I know for a fact that Jason will want to go hunting at night." Brutus says.

"How can they even consider sleeping that high up?" Cecelia ask horrified.

"They've done it before." Cato shrugs.

"_How high are we going to climb?" Hagan ask. She shrugs._

_"Let's find out." She says and puts the bow on her shoulder so she can use her hands. She climbs first going onto the second branch and then he climbs after her. Both of them are like squirrels by how quickly they move up the tree with no problem. They stop about 15 feet up and sit on a thick branch with their legs out in front of them. Katniss takes the pack off her shoulder and digs into it looking for the sleeping bag and the rope. She pulls it out, handing the rope to Hagan and unravels the sleeping bag._

"They're like fucking squirrels." Finnick says amused.

"They picked a good size tree." Chaff comments nodding in approval.

_She tucks the pack down at the bottom of the sleeping bag and then tells Hagan to slide in first. He hands her his spear and the rope. He reaches above him gripping the small branch and moves his legs into the bag then let's go of the branch pulling the bag up to his waist. Katniss hands him the stuff back and then carefully slides in the bag herself. It's a tight fit but there is still a little wiggle room she hands the spear back to him. Their back on the tree with their feet out in front of them and the bag pulled up to their waist. She unravels the long rope and then wrap it around the branch and their waist so they won't fall off the tree in their sleep._

_Katniss takes the bow from her shoulder and then load it with an arrow just in case. Hagan holds the spear across his lap like her and watch as the sky gets darker._

"Good use for the rope." Finnick comments while everybody nods.

"_There's only 12 of us left." Hagan voices her thoughts. She nods._

_"Let's just go to sleep." He nods and they try to get comfortable on the branch and then slowly fall asleep listening to the night creatures noises._

"Looks like nothing is going to happen for a while with them." Jo says. Then the camera switches to Careers. They are still at their campsite getting ready to go hunt for tributes.

"You guys can go to sleep and I'll keep watch if anything happens to Katniss and Hagan." Cato says noticing everybody getting sleepy. They nod and start to get comfortable on the couch. They don't want to leave and go back up to their floors because there is no reason to.

* * *

Only two hours later Cato is waking everybody up telling them to look at the screen.

_Snap!_

_Katniss is startled awake by hearing crackling fire. She trains her eyes not that far away on smoke. Someone started a fire near and her tree. How stupid can this person be? She wonders hoping it doesn't draw the Careers to her tree. She wants to yell at the person for person so stupid but them that would give away her location._

"Oh gosh, another stupid girl." Jo grumbles rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Who would be that stupid to light a fire at night?" Finnick exclaims.

"Look how close she is to Katniss and Hagan." Brutus points out.

"Stupid girl, going to get them killed." Haymitch glares at the screen.

_She looks up at her tree thinking if she can climb high enough she would be able to see the person at the fire. She quickly unties the rope from her waist and slips out of the sleeping bag tying the rope back around Hagan. She hears the Career tributes laugh which means they must have gotten to the fire. Now she knows it's a girl when she starts pleading for them not to kill her._

"Oh my, what is she doing?"

"What the fuck is she doing? Is she trying to get herself killed?"

"She's putting herself in the girl's shoes." Cato explains like he can read Katniss's mind.

"How would you know that?" Haymitch ask turning to him.

"Think about it Hay. You know her as much as I do. Jason is going to see that it's a girl and he's going to rape her. Katniss is thinking what she would want if she was in the same situation." Cato explains.

"She would want someone to kill her quickly before he could do anything." Haymitch realizes now.

_Everybody is circled around the girl making no room for escape as Jason approaches her slowly. She can't see his face but from the way the girl is looking at him is all the image she needs. He takes out a knife and then grabs both of the girl's wrist pinning them above her head. She starts kicking her legs to get him off of her but he doesn't budge and just stabs her leg dragging the knife in her skin. Now Katniss is really on the verge of throwing up._

"He's going to torture her."

"This is just sick."

"Is that what he wants to do to Katniss?" Finnick ask staring wide-eye at Cato. He nods.

_The girl screams in pain and he pulls the knife out and starts cutting away her shirts and under garments leaving her breast exposed. She can hear the girl sobbing and Jason's dark laugh. Katniss gasp eye wide. Of course she knew Cato was telling the truth about Jason raping girls in his district. But what makes it so real and disgusting is that this is what Jason is intending to do to her. She snaps out of her thoughts as she sees him cutting away her pants._

"I can't watch." Cecelia says tears streaming down her face. She buries her head in Chaff's shoulder.

"What is Katniss waiting for?!" Brutus exclaims. "Just shoot her already!"

_She fumbles with getting an arrow out because her hands are trembling. Thank god Hagan isn't awake for this. She thinks as she loads her bow. She raises it and brings the string back close to her face. She steadies her breathing and closes one eye and trains the other on her target. Before she releases the arrow she says a simple goodbye to the girl and then the arrow is release._

"She mumbled a goodbye to the girl." Jo says.

"Thank god it's over. I don't think I could have watched what he intended to do." Finnick breathes out.

_She freezes not daring to breathe as she hears Jason roar into the night sky. She then see's him get up and starts walking. She snaps out of it quickly and scurries down to her spot next to Hagan who woke up by Jason's loud roar._

_"Ka-" She puts her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking and they sit still as they hear Jason and the other's walk by their tree talking._

_"Who do you think shot that arrow?" a boy ask._

_"Whoever did it is going to be dead by tomorrow for ruining my pleasure." That can only be Jason's voice._

_"They should be close by. No one can shoot that far." a boy says._

_"I think it was that girl from 12's little brother. I saw him running with the bow in his hand at the bloodbath." A girl with a squeaky voice says. She must be the dumb blond from District 1._

_"Well whoever it is, is gone by now. Since you guys stood here talking letting him/her get away. So let's just go back to our camp and start again tomorrow." A girl says sharply and you can hear her walking away and everybody following her away from the tree._

_Katniss and Hagan still stay still for a while and then relax knowing they are far away now. She takes her hand away from Hagan's mouth sliding back in the sleeping bag._

_"What were they talking about Kat?" He whispers._

"At least they didn't see them."

"Yeah, but now they think Hagan shot that arrow."

"Why was Clove acting so weird?"

_"I think it's better if you don't know." She says quietly leaning back closing her eyes._

_"If I don't know? Katniss they were talking about me having the bow and thinking I shot an arrow not too long ago. I think I deserve to know." He hisses. She sighs still keeping her eyes closed._

_"A girl. I don't know from what district but she had lit a fire that woke me up. Then the Careers came after her. I couldn't just leave her in the hands of Jason. You know what he tried to do to mean that night and I didn't want her to suffer. So I got up and climbed high enough so I could see them and they all made no way for her to escape. Jason held her down and then stabbed her leg dragging the knife. She was screaming and crying and then he started cutting away her shirt leaving her expose. I couldn't let her go through that so I shot her with an arrow making her die quickly before Jason got too far. I was just horrible Hay." She explains shuddering. Hagan gasp at what she's telling him._

_"You mean he was going to….to…." He can't even finish the word himself._

_"Yes, he was." She confirms._

_"That's what he's planning on doing to you? Oh my-" He shakes his head not wanting to believe it. She reaches out blindly for his hand until she finds it. She gives it squeeze._

_"He's not going to Hay. Don't worry about it." She says still squeezing his hand. He nods knowing she can't see him with her eyes still closed. "Let's go back to sleep."_

_"Okay." He says and leans his head on her shoulder closing his eyes. After a few minutes they are both asleep._

"You all know she's in trouble if they encounter Jason, Right?"

"I think it's quite obvious Jo."

"But remember she can at least take Jason."

"Yea, but maybe it won't be enough."

"Let's hope a miracle will happen." Finnick sighs.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I thought I would try something new, so I hope you like it because there are other chapters like this one. **_

_**Next update will be on my usual days , but hopefully not this late again.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! **_


	10. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

They jump down from their tree at dawn wanting to get an early start before the Careers come back. They put the sleeping bag and the rope back in their pack. Hagan grabs his spear and Katniss loads her bow as they walk. Both their stomach's rumble at the same time.

"Kat when are you going to cook that bird?"

"I think I have an idea." She replies.

Katniss takes him to where the girl had set up her fire and they see the fire starting to fade since it's been going all night. Hagan smiles at Katniss' great idea and she unwraps the two birds and puts them on the still hot coal. They sit down as they wait for the birds to be done.

"So what are we going to do today?"

"Staying alive." She replies dryly.

Hagan laughs. "You sound like Haymitch."

She makes a disgusted face at him. "Don't ever compare me to him. That's just wrong." She shivers, chuckling.

"Ok Kat. Can you hand me the water."

She digs into the pack and hands him the still full bottle of water. They haven't drunk from it yet, wanting to save as much as they can. They take turns taking little sips from the bottle. Katniss takes the now fully cooked bird meat off the coal and hands Hagan his own. He stares at her.

"Aren't we going to save some for later on?"

"No, I can just hunt for more." She shrugs taking a bit of her own.

Hagan shrugs, too hungry to argue and starts eating his. After they clean their bone they drink the rest of the water and then refill it. They set out to hunt some more making their day really uneventful. By the time they are done it is late afternoon and they caught two rabbits from the snares Hagan set up yesterday and today Katniss shot 2 squirrels, 3 rabbits, and one bird that should last them about days tops. Well….if they live that long…

They wrap, skin, and gut the food and then wrap it up in the plastic, putting it all in the pack. They go back to their tree turning in for the night. They situate themselves like last night and wait until it gets dark for the anthem to start.

They didn't hear any cannons today, so the Game Makers must not be happy about that. Just like Katniss thought as the anthem plays and shows no deaths today. This can't last that long because the Capitol people will start to get bored and the Game Makers don't want that. They both start to doze off when the anthem is finished trying to make up for the hours of sleep they lost.

Barely a few hours later Katniss wakes up to the sound of feet running all around. She looks around wildly and confused. It's not even dawn yet, but she sees light not far away. Then she feels the heat of it making her eyes sting as she looks toward the light.

Of course how could she miss the wall of fire heading her and Hagan's way? Katniss starts to panic and violently shakes Hagan awake yelling his name.

"Hagan get up! We need to move. Now!" He springs awaked looking around in bewilderment as Katniss starts to untie them from the tree. They tumble out of the tree dropping 10 feet while still in the sleeping bag. They both groan at the impact and then start to get out of the sleeping pack hastily and then put in it the pack along with the rope. Luckily their weapons where still on them.

They start running away from the fire following after the fleeing animals, knowing it's best to trust their senses. They trip over fallen branches and their eyes stinging from the smoke. They start to cough as the smoke starts to consume them.

Both of them pull their shirts over their noses. It's no use. The smoke is heavy and it's so hard to breathe and to keep down what they ate not too long ago. Katniss hears something coming from her left and turns to look and see a light coming at her.

Her eyes widen as she keeps running. The fire hits the tree that they just pasted and she starts to panic again.

_Isn't the wall of fire enough? Do they really need to spit fire at us?_ She thinks and then laughs.. _I bet the Capitol is having a ball with this. Girl on fire caught in her own fire! I guess my nickname really lived up to me._ She thinks bitterly.

Another fireball comes hurling, but this time at Hagan and she tackles him to the ground as the ball hits the tree above them. She drags him back up and they run again still coughing.

"You hear a hissing sound, You dive to the ground." She yells at him. He nods.

A fallen branch on fire falls in front of them making them back up. She tells Hagan to jump and then she jumps, but not high enough because the end of her jacket gets caught on a branch sticking out pulling her back. She pulls it free ripping the bottom of it and then starts stomping it into the ground to kill the fire. Hagan comes back to her, after noticing she wasn't running anymore.

The fire that won't extinguish she rips it off with her hands which burns her. She puts the jacket back on thinking, _Half a jacket is better than no jacket at all._

"Kat come on!" Hagan shouts tugging her but the he hears a hiss and throw both of them down on the ground making it hit another branch. The branch falls on top of Hagan's legs and is close to catching them on fire.

"Katniss!" He yells for her. "Help!"

She quickly gets up putting her bow down on the ground and starts pushing the broken branch from him. The fire burns her hands and it makes her stop pushing with them. She frantically thinks of something to get the heavy branch off him before the fire gets to him. Hagan catches her wrist.

"Just leave me. It's too heavy to push-off." He says shakily with tears in his eyes.

She has tears of her own while shaking her head at him defiantly. "Like hell I will! If you think I'm going to leave you here then your fucking delusional!" She hisses at him and then sits on her butt and position her feet on the branch and pushes it off him forcefully.

Just as she gets him free and up another hissing sounds and they dive again, but she didn't move quickly enough as the fireball skits her left upper thigh setting her pants on fire. She yells trying to pat at it, but then regains her sense back and start rolling on the ground putting the fire out.

Her pants are torched, her leg is burning and her hands ache but she ignores it all and gets up dragging Hagan up with her. She limps while she runs next to Hagan. A hissing comes again but it's from behind them and they slip apart jumping different ways.

A fire wall starts between them and by the time they get to their feet they are shoulder-high. _They're trying to separate us!_ She thinks pissed.

"Katniss!" Hagan yells over the wall looking panicked at her.

She knows she can't get through the fire without severely hurting herself in the process. They'll have to run separate ways now. She thinks quickly.

"Do you have your spear?" She yells.

He shakes his head. "No I dropped it when the branch fell on me!"

She makes quick work as she throws her bow over the fire, then the sheath with the arrows in it, and lastly the pack with all their supplies in it.

"What are you doing?" He yells at her picking all the stuff up, putting the pack on his back and then the sheath with arrows and he holds the bow in his trembling hands.

"Remember what I taught you!" She tells him. He nods still standing there. "Hagan go before another fireball comes!"

He shakes his head with tears brimming his eyes. "What about you?" His voice hoarse from all the coughing. Same as hers.

"I'll be fine. I promise I'll come and find you." She tells him backing away from the growing wall. "Now go!" she catches a little glimpse of him fleeing in the other direction.

She runs away to promising herself she'll find him. She limps, running blindly trying to get out of the section that will keep burning. This is not just a natural fire. _No_. She knows better than to think that. This is the Game Makers having their fun. Toying with them. Wanting to separate her from her brother. Wanting him to be off on his own; _scared and helpless_.

She's coughing uncontrollably now and has to stop at a tree hunched over and throws up her bird's meat and water she had contained. It burns her throat and she heaves. She wipes her mouth with the back of her trembling hand and then she keeps running.

She's so focused on running that she doesn't even notice she is ankle-deep in a pond until it reaches her burned thigh. She sighs in relieve as the burning goes away and all she can feel is the cold pond water surrounds it. She doesn't want to look at it because she knows it will look bad.

She hates burns. Always have. Even the smallest ones. That's why she keeps Raven and Skye away from the fire in her house, not wanting them to experience such an intense burning sensation. She drags herself out of the water, regretfully, but knowing she has to cut away the burnt material that surrounds both of her legs. She stands on trembling legs and her red blistered hands reach behind her pulling the knife Hagan gave her for skinning from her waist band.

Her hands trembles so badly at the pressure she put on them to cut her pants off. Her leg hurts so badly that it brings tears to her stinging eyes. Her throat is so raw from all that coughing and throwing up that it hurts too much to even swallow her own spit.

She has a cramp in her side and it hurts to breathe even the slightest. But she sucks it up not wanting the Capitol to think she looks weak, so she sets her face in a scowl and blinks back the tears as she cuts away the last of her pants.

Now she stands there for all of Panem to see in shorts that barely cover her ass. She's pissed that the fire destroyed majority of her pants and now has to walk around with her legs bare in these short shorts. She wants to punch somebody. She tucks the knife back in her waist band and sits on rock. She breathes deeply even though it hurts badly and takes a look at her burned upper thigh.

Her breathing falters at the sight. It looks so badly burned and it hurts to move it. She tries to remember what her mother told her about burns. She closes her eyes trying to think back. _If you can still feel the pain then it's a good sign because all of your nerves aren't damaged._ Her eyes open after that. At least she knows her burn isn't severe. She moves back into the water taking away the burning sensation again.

She puts her hands in also and lays her head back on the rock closing her eyes again. The sun will set in an hour and she's wounded and too tired to leave. Plus, she doesn't think she can leave this pond that takes away the pain. She honestly doesn't even care if the Careers find her. She can take them with just a knife…..well maybe not now, but she's just too tired to care.

_Let them find me._

And with that last thought she drifts to sleep.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**I apologize for the inconvenience of me not updating for the last two weeks. I have not forgotten about y'all. It's just I have been busy with school. But now I am back and i am going to make it up to you all. **_

_**My Spring Break is staring Friday and I will be uploading another chapter on that day. So look out for it!**_

_**Also I plan to finish my first story 'In Hiding' over my break, so I can stop procrastinating and just finish it already. I can't believe I have let that story drag on for so long without completing it. *Sigh***_

_**Anywho I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	11. Chapter 10

_**A/N:**_

_**See you at the bottom...**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

And find her they do.

If it weren't for her hunters ears she would have never heard them coming unless they were 10 feet away. She's up on her feet with her dripping wet clothes clinging to her body as she runs…well rather limp away.

They are all cheering and laughing when they see her and continue to run toward her. Especially Jason who is at the front of the group trying to get to her first. He looks hungry…..and not that type of hungry you're thinking about.

She knows she can't out run them with a burned leg so she quickly scales a tree and then finds one that has high branched. She climbs. If running hurt a lot then this is excruciating pain. Because she has to use direct contact on her hands making her blisters bust and bleed. Her thigh is a throbbing mess by the time she is twenty feet up.

She perches herself on a branch putting her back against the trunk and her legs out in front of her. The Careers stand at the base of the tree glaring up at her, except Clove, who looks concerned and confused. Katniss tilts her head a little looking at her questionably. Jason punches the tree mad that he can't reach her. She smiles a bit at this.

"How's everything down there?" She calls out smirking at them. They all seem shocked.

"Good and you?" Clove ask.

Katniss shrugs. "Bit too warm for my taste."

"How about you come join me?" She then ask, knowing all of them weigh too much for the branches to support their weight. Well maybe Clove is an exception.

"Think I will." Jason smirks and starts climbing.

But that smirk is wiped off his face when a branch snaps under his foot making him fall on his back. He hits the ground with a thud and curses as he gets up. He glares up at her. She smiles innocently at him.

"Aww is Jason afraid of heights?" she teases.

"Just watch, when I get my hands on you-"

"But I'm twenty feet up, so you can't touch me now can you?" She cocks her head to the side smiling slightly. Jason was about to respond when Clove stepped in.

"Just leave her up there and we'll figure out what to do in the morning. She isn't going anywhere."

She's right she isn't going anywhere. She can barely move her left leg. And her hands are shaking too much.

"Fine, someone build a fire." Jason barks.

When night rolls around the only thing Katniss can do to distract herself from her throbbing burned leg is to think about Hagan. _Where is he? Is he safe? I haven't heard a cannon yet_. But the distraction doesn't last too long because the throbbing is so intense she almost cries out. She bites her tongue and look up at the sky with painful tears in her eyes. Her body is shaking all over and she can't control it; it partly has to do with its getting cold now.

"Haymitch." She whispers into the sky knowing he is watching her.

If the pain won't go away then she won't be able to work on a plan to get out of the tree before the Careers come up with any idea. She waits for a minute or two watching the sky, but then gives up knowing, she told him to only use the sponsor money on Hagan.

She should be glad that he is listening to her, but she can't help but be a little sad that he's going to leave her here in agony. She crosses her arms leaning her head back on the trunk and stare straight ahead. She finds eyes staring right back at her only they aren't animal eyes.

She cocks her head to the right and squints her eyes to see in the dark. The eyes are big and round and they are looking right back at her. She's seen those eyes before and then she realizes it's Rue. Rue points to a branch above her head and she looks and then freezes; holding her breath.

_Tracker Jackers. _

The most lethal mutations the Capitol has created. If they sting you it turns into the size of a plum and you start hallucinating. If you get stung many times then you're as good as dead. Katniss stares at them, but they seem to be moving slow on the branch above her. They must still be hazy from the smoke and are not fully recovered yet. This gives her an idea.

She looks down to where the Careers are putting someone on watch as the others start to lay down and go to sleep by the fire. She looks back to where Rue was, but she doesn't see her there anymore. The anthem will play in few minutes so she need to work fast if she's going to get her plan into motion.

She painfully climbs up one branch and sits on it coming face to face with the branch the tracker jackers nest hangs on. She grabs her knife from her waist band and grips it tightly. She places the blade on the branch while holding the handle with both hands and waits for the anthem to start playing.

She doesn't know if her hands can handle the pain she's about to put them through, but she doesn't have time to think as the Capitol seal shows up and the anthem blares out. This is her cue and she starts to saw at the branch.

Blisters burst as she drags the knife back and forth on the branch gritting her teeth from crying out in pain. She works through and focus on the back and forth motion of the knife cutting through the branch. She quickly glances at the sky seeing there was no deaths today and feels herself stop worrying about Hagan being dead.

The audience should be good with what they got earlier today with the fire and now this! They are seeing her injured and trapped in a tree with the Careers surrounding her below. They are more than okay. She was almost half way through the branch when the anthem runs out and she's forced to stop.

She sighs frustrated that she didn't finish, but who was she kidding. Even if she did cut all the way through the branch and make it fall on the Careers, how far would she get with them distracted? She's injured and she can barely move herself. Her hands are practically screaming at her wanting relief. She wishes she had some food because her stomach is eating itself inside out.

When she climbs back to her branch she finds a silver box with a parachute sitting on it. She snatches it up and gets herself situated on the branch with her back against the trunk and her feet out in front of her. She opens the silver box attached to the parachute and finds a note and a medium size jar. She read the small note first.

**_Apply generously and stay alive. _**

**_-H_**

She wants to cry in joy as she opens up the jar finding burn cream in it. She quickly applies some to her burned thigh instantly feeling the cream cool the burn to where it becomes numb and then she does her hands. She puts the jar inside the parachute and ties it to her belt not wanting to lose it.

"Thank you." She whispers up into the sky to Haymitch.

She closes her eyes wrapping her arms around herself as it starts to get colder. She'll have to wake up early before dawn to finish it. So she mines well get a few hours of sleep. Just as she about to drift off a hand covers her mouth. Her eyes snap open widening as she is face to face with Clove.

She puts a finger to her lips as if saying _'Don't scream.'_ Katniss nods and Clove carefully takes her hand away from her.

"What the hell do you want?!" She hisses.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Clove says concerned.

Katniss just stares at her suspiciously. "Why do you even care? Aren't you up here to kill me?" She says coldly.

"No." Clove chuckles lightly.

Now Katniss gives her a confused stare. "Why not?"

"Because Cato is crazy about you and he would kill me himself if I killed you or your brother. Plus my intentions where to never kill either of you. Just to…help you succeed. " She smiles a little.

"Help me? Why would you want to help me?"

"Like I said Cato is my best friend and he cares too much about you and your brother to lose both of you. So I want to help him at least keep one of you. You both are too special to him to just die." She explains.

"What about you? Don't you have someone to go back home to?" Katniss ask quietly.

She shakes her head. "No I don't. But Hagan does. So I'm going to help whether you like it or not." She shrugs starting to climb down.

"I just thought I should let you know."

"Wait!" Katniss grabs hold of her wrist.

Clove looks up confused. "What?"

"I-you- Thank you." Katniss sighs.

Clove nods and starts to move again but her grip tightens.

"Sleep the farthest away from the tree as possible."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions and just do it." She replies back and let's go of her wrist.

Clove nods and climbs all the way down the tree and picks a spot at least 6 feet away. Katniss gets comfortable again closing her eyes and falling asleep finally without anyone disturbing her.

* * *

Katniss wakes up from her restless sleep, judging by the sky it's an hour before dawn. She looks down at the Careers who are asleep and Clove is far away from them. She looks at her thigh and gasp at the new pink skin. There is still a little throbbing, but not like it was yesterday. She then looks at her hands and sees they are a light red and a little blistered still.

She re-applies the cream and then puts it away. She looks into the tree across from her where Rue was. It's only fair to warn her about what she's about to do.

"Rue!" She whisper shouts.

The big eyes return looking at her and then she points again to the branch above her. Katniss nods and pulls out her knife and makes a sawing motion with it. Rue nods, knowing what she meant and then flees her tree, hopping from tree to tree like a chuckles to herself and starts to climb again without pain.

She sits herself on a branch like she did last night and puts her knife back in the cut she made. She grips the handle and then starts the back and forward motion again, looking down occasionally to see if the Careers woke up.

About a little over have way through she sees one of the wasp come out still a little haze and once it feels someone disturbing its nest it will wake the others, so she has to work quickly.

_Back and forth, back and forth._

Her hands sting and she can hear the buzzing starting up.

_Back and forth._

She yelps as one stings her hand and can see the swelling start, but she doesn't stop almost through the branch. Another one stings her leg as she stopped sawing it with the knife and grabs the branch behind her and starts to kick at the branch and it breaks more. Another one stings her on the side of her neck just before the branch breaks and falls through the trees and then all there is, is chaos.

"To the lake!" someone yells and everybody starts scrambling away.

Katniss climbs down clumsily starting to feel the venom take its effect. She misses her step on the last branch and falls to the ground knocking the wind out of herself.

"Help!" One of the Career girls yells but it's too late for her as all the wasp sting her and her body become lump from the stings. She drops to the ground, wiggling until she goes still. Katniss makes it to her feet struggling in her haze to get away before they come back.

But she's not in her right mind and she's too slow because Jason comes running through the bushes with a sword in his hand. He spots her and pushes her to the ground and raises his sword and then brings it down on her leg cutting her deep.

She howls in pain trying to get away from him. Jason, suddenly, turns around and she sees Clove with knives in her hand and see's one sticking out of Jason's back.

"Katniss go! Get out of here! I got this!" Clove yells at her.

Katniss stands shakily and starts to limp away as best she could. She gets at least 30 yards away before she collapses into a whole of a tree. She has just enough sense left as she struggles to take her jacket off and then her shirt and rips her shirt tying it around where Jason cut her to stop the bleeding and then she slips her jacket back on and zips it all the way up.

She immediately pulls out the stingers from where she got stung making green puss come out of the stings and then she blacks out.

* * *

She watches all of her family die over and over again; _Raven, Skye, Cato, Prim, Hagan, Peeta, Rye, Gale, Uncle Caleb, even her mother._

She wonders, _when will this agony stop?_

She's in a dark pit and sees a light ahead. She tries to grab onto it, but the blackness keeps pulling her back under. She can feel her slow pulse as she's in her house, back in the Seam in District 12. Her mother just sits in a chair staring off into space, looking pale.

Hagan and Prim are in the corner huddled together as she is on her knees begging their mother to come back to them. Then the house explodes like a mine explosion and she sees the light again and reaches for it. All the darkness is disappearing as the bright light pulls her in.

When she opens her eyes the light is too bright and she has to shield her eyes with her arm. The first thing she notices is how weak she is and how stiff her muscles are. _How long have I been out?_ She takes her arm away and at her surroundings.

She's in a whole under a tree with a bunch on dead leaves surrounding her. She sits up hearing her back pop in different places and tries to stand, but she lets out a hiss as pain shoots from her left thigh. She drops back down and looks at her black shirts wrapped around her wound.

All the events leading up to how she got here comes rushing back to her. Then one thing settles in her mind. Clove saved her life. Well…..what's left of it by what it looks like. She knows she doesn't have that long to live. She felt how deep Jason cut her thigh.

Right down to the bone.

The burns she had doesn't even compare to the pain she feels now. She knows she has to get moving because she has to find Hagan. She promised him that she'll find him again. And she always keeps her promises. So she stills her emotions and unwraps her torn shirt from around her thigh.

What she sees makes her want to throw up even if her stomach is empty already. Her thigh is swollen and red, and has blood caked all around it. The cut looks mean and abused. The smell isn't too great either. She can't look at it any longer or she will weaken and start to throw up.

She quickly wraps her thigh back up and makes a move crawl out of the hole she is in. Every move she makes brings pain and by the time she is out in the open she is sweating. She wipe her forehead with shaky hands and then makes herself stand.

She can't help but cry out in pain as she is fully standing. She leans against the base of a tree, trying to slow her breathing. She needs water. Her mouth is like sand paper and her spit isn't helping it. But the odd thing is she isn't hungry. Just thirsty.

She knows she isn't going to be able to walk unless she is supported by something, so she looks on the ground for a thick fallen branch. She finds one 2 feet away and groans inwardly knowing how much pain she will be in to reach it.

But, before she can even attempt to go for it she feels someone's presences, She looks around, but see's nothing. Then she hears a twig snap right by the tree she is leaning on and turns her head and sees Rue. She looks frighten for a minute until Katniss smiles at her.

"It's okay Rue. I'm not going to hurt you." She says softly and then chuckles. "besides in my condition you can probably take me down yourself."

Rue looks at her concerned and steps out from behind the tree. "What happened to you?" She ask quietly looking at her wrapped leg.

Katniss shrugs. "It's nothing really. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She says.

Rue give a hesitant nod. "You know they aren't the only ones who can be allies."

"You want to be my ally?" Rue ask hopefully.

She nods. "Of course. If your still alive then your obviously smart enough to survive." She gives her a small smile. Rue smiles back and then looks at her stings that are still the size of plums.

"I have something for that." She points and digs in her pouch pulling out a lot of leaves. "These will make them go away and fight infection."

Katniss nods and sits down trying not to hiss in pain. She puts her back against the base of the tree and her legs out in front of her. Rue looks at her shyly before putting some of the leaves in her mouth and starts chewing. After a minute she spits it on her hand and then puts it on the sting on her leg. Katniss gasp at how good it feels.

Rue smiles at her. "At least you were smart enough to pull the stingers out or it would have been much worse." She says.

Katniss laughs relieved at finally having some of the pain leave her body. "Do my neck." She practically begs.

Rue tends to her other two stings and then looks down at her wrapped thigh. "Can I see your leg?" She ask reaching for it.

Katniss see's a burn on her arm and catches her wrist trying to get the attention off her leg. "Your arm. What happened to it?" She pulls her jacket sleeve up to get a closer look at it.

"I got caught in the wild-fire they started." She explains.

"I have something for that." Katniss tells her and pulls the parachute free from her belt and opens the still full jar.

"Oh, you have sponsors." Rue stated. She nods and applies some of the cream to her arm.

"Thanks"

"Welcome. So Rue can you tell me how long I was out for?" Katniss ask hoarsely.

Her throat is so dry. Rue must sense this because she hands Katniss some of her water. Katniss smiles gratefully at this and takes sips.

"You were out for two days." Rue tells her. Katniss chokes on the water and coughs.

"Two days!" she sputters. Rue nods carefully.

"Who died?"

"The girl from 1 and 2 and the boy from 10." Katniss gasps at this.

Clove died for her. She fought off Jason long enough so that she could get away. She'll never be able to repay Clove for what she did. Who knows what Jason had done to her and quite frankly she hopes she never has to find out.

She silently says a 'goodbye' and 'thank you' to Clove who risked her life for her.

"Um…what about Hagan, my brother?" She ask carefully.

God if something happened to him she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"He's okay. I think he's still down by the river." Rue blushes a little.

Katniss eyes her suspiciously.

"What?" Rue squeaks.

Katniss shakes her head, laughing a little. Rue has a crush on her little brother.

"So where is Jason and what's left of the Career pack?" She ask after a minute.

"It's only him and the boy from 1 left. They have all their supplies down by the lake, piled up in this great big pyramid."

"Sounds tempting." Katniss smirks.

Rue looks at her confused. "What do you mean?"

She doesn't get a chance to answer when the trumpets play. It's rare to have the trumpets play in the middle of the Games because it can only mean two things. One, being a rule change. Two, being a feast. They both listen carefully as Claudius Templesmith speaks above them.

_Tributes, congratulations on being in the final 8. There has been a rule change. Two tributes can win coming from the same district. Thank you and may the odds be ever in your favor._

Rue turns to Katniss giving her a little smile, "They did this for you and Hagan."

Katniss gives her a confused look. "What do mean? Thresh is still alive. You guys have a chance." She replies back thinking, _Why would they do this just for me and Hagan? What's so special about us?_

Rue shrugs, "I guess, but the people like you and Hagan better. I already accepted the fact that I might die in here."

"Me too Rue, me to…, but don't doubt yourself. Now let us go find my brother." Katniss says trying to stand up. She grunts in pain and falls back on her butt.

Rue looks at her concerned. "Are you sure you don't want me to look at that. I can help." Rue tells her.

She shakes her head stubbornly. "No, I'm fine, really. Just sore. Do you think you can hand me that thick stick over there?" She points to the stick lying on the round. Rue walks over to it and drags it to Katniss who smiles in thanks. She pushes herself up forcefully and then grabs hold on the stick to lean on.

"Okay, we can go now, but we are going to have to move slowly." Katniss tells her as she starts limping with the stick.

Rue follows her worriedly. "Are you sure you can walk? It's quite far to get to the river."

Katniss gives her a painful smile, trying to cover up at how much pain she really is in. "Like I said I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle." She lies through gritted teeth, trying to stop the sound that wants rip through her throat.

Rue nods, defeated. "Okay if you say so. Follow me the rivers this way." Rue gestures and starts walking slowly in that direction as Katniss struggles to keeps up with her.

Lucky for them Katniss had woken up early in the morning, so they have a lot of time to reach the river before night falls.

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_**Dear god, I am so sorry. I said I would update last Friday, but I didn't. **_

_**But I promise you this story will not end up like my first one where I just stopped updating for a whole month. **_

_**Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! **_

_**And for you guys to forgive me for lying and leaving you all hanging I am updating Chapter 11 in 20 minutes after I get done looking it over. **_

_**One last thing that is important, 'In Hiding', my first story will be finished and updated sometime tomorrow around the afternoon and early evening. I promise you all I will finish that story tomorrow! Even if I have to dedicate my whole day to finish it. IT WILL GET DONE!**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	12. Chapter 11

**_A/N: Important before you read!_**

**_See you at the bottom..._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games._**

**_Warning: It gets a little dark nearing the end. _**

_Also the Italic print is what is happening in the Games as the Mentors watch. _

**_The bold and italic print is what the Mentors are watching when the cameras' in the Games are on other people._**

And the regular print is what the Mentors are saying.

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**_Through Mentor's eyes _**

"Can someone call an Avox to bring us some damn food?" Jo groans.

They haven't left the mentor's room because they don't want to miss anything. Right now all the tributes are asleep, so nothing interesting should happen until dawn breaks out in the arena. The mentors should all be sleep, but they can't go back to sleep; not with what happened an hour ago.

"Sure Jo." Finnick say picking up a phone and starts to talk in it.

He then puts it down and not a minute later an Avox comes into the room with a cart, carrying food for everybody. Finnick ordered everybody the same thing; lamb stew with dried plumbs. Jo groans while she eats it because she hasn't eaten all day well... except for breakfast before the Games started.

Everybody eats in silence not wanting to talk. When they are all done the sun is starting to rise in the arena and Katniss wakes up at the first bird that chirps.

"She must be a light sleeper." Brutus comments.

"Yea, you can get nothing passed her when she's sleep." Cato chuckles.

_They jump down from their tree at dawn wanting to get an early start before the Careers come back. They put the sleeping bag and the rope back in their pack. Hagan grabs his spear and Katniss loads her bow as they walk. Both their stomach's rumble at the same time. _

_"Kat when are you going to cook that bird?" _

_"I think I have an idea." She replies. Katniss takes him to where the girl had set up her fire and they see the fire starting to fade since it's been going all night. Hagan smiles at Katniss great idea and she unwraps the two birds and puts them on the still hot wood. They sit down as they wait for the birds to be done. _

_"So what are we going to do today?" _

_"Staying alive." She replies dryly. _

_Hagan laughs. "You sound like Haymitch." _

_She makes a disgusted face at him. "Don't ever compare me to him. That's just wrong." She shivers, chuckling. _

_"Ok Kat. Can you hand me the water." _

_She digs into the pack and hands him the still full bottle of water. They haven't drunk from it yet, wanting to save as much as they can. They take turns taking little sips from the bottle. Katniss takes the now fully cooked bird meat off the wood and hands Hagan his own. He stares at her._

Everybody laughs and then look at Haymitch, who is chuckling himself.

"At least they know how to lighten the mood." Finnick comments.

"You know, you and Katniss are the same. Well...you guys think alike." Cato says, turning to Haymitch, who just shrugs.

"That's something I would have said." Haymitch says. Everybody nods, knowing him.

"It was smart of them to use that girls fire. Instead of building their own and drawing attention so themselves." Chaff comments.

"At least they have some brains." Jo grunts.

_ "Aren't we going to save some for later on?" _

_"No, I can just hunt for more." She shrugs taking a bit of her own. _

_Hagan shrugs too hungry to argue and starts eating his. After they clean their bone they drink the rest of the water and then refill it. They set out to hunt some more making their day really uneventful._

_ By the time they are done its late afternoon and they caught two rabbits from the snares Hagan set up yesterday and today Katniss shot 2 squirrels, 3 rabbits, and one bird that should last them about days tops. Well….if they live that long… _

_They wrap skin and gut the food and then wrap it up in the plastic, putting it all in the pack. They go back to their tree, turning in for the night. They situate themselves like last night and wait until it gets dark for the anthem to start. _

_They didn't hear any cannons today, so the Gamemakers must not be happy about that. Just like Katniss thought as the anthem plays and shows no deaths today. This can't last that long because the Capitol people will start to get bored and the Game Makers don't want that. They both start to doze off when the anthem is finished trying to make up for the hours of sleep they lost._

"She sure knows how to keep food on them."

"Yeah, she's use to doing it. Back in District 12 her hall is bigger than that." Cato explains. Everybody seems impressed.

"Well at least Haymitch doesn't has to waste sponsor money on giving them food."

"I hope you all know the Gamemakers aren't happy." Haymitch says after a minute.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, today was a slow, uneventful day. The Capitol people are probably bored." He explains.

"They're going to start making their own tweaks to these Games just to get the people back into it."

Everybody nods, knowing nothing good will come out of it.

_ Barely a few hours later Katniss wakes up to the sound of feet running all around. _

_She looks around wildly and confused. It' not even dawn yet, but she sees light not far away. Then she feels the heat of it making her eyes sting as she looks toward the light. _

_Of course how could she miss the wall of fire heading her and Hagan's way? Katniss starts to panic and violently shakes Hagan awake yelling his name. _

_"Hagan get up! We need to move. Now!" _

_He springs awaked looking around in bewilderment as Katniss starts to untie them from the tree. They tumble out of the tree dropping 10 feet while still in the sleeping bag. They both groan at the impact and then start to get out of the sleeping back hastily and then put in it the pack along with the rope. _

_Luckily their weapons where still on them. They start running away from the fire after the fleeing animals knowing it's best to trust their senses. They trip over fallen branches and their eyes stinging from the smoke. They start to cough as the smoke starts to consume them. Both of them pull their shirts over their noses. It's no use. The smoke is heavy and it's so hard to breathe and to keep down what they ate not too long ago._

"Oh my god…."

"That's fucking bullshit." Jo exclaims.

"At least they have a sense of direction to follow."

"Yeah, but the animals are faster than them. They won't be able to keep up. Look at how heavy that smoke is."

"It's quite ironic really." Finnick chuckles.

"This is not funny!"

"I know, but think about. Katniss is the girl on fire so they put her in fire and now she's, like, stuck in her own fire. Don't you get it?" Finnick ask looking around.

They all nod their heads slowly and then Jo laughs bitterly.

"Of course the Gamemakers will think of something like that."

_ Katniss hears something coming from her left and turns to look and see a light coming at her. Her eyes widen as she keeps running. The fire hits the tree that they just passed and starts to panic again. _

Everybody gasp.

"That isn't even fair! How can they outrun fucking flying fireballs?!"

_ Another fireball comes hurling, but this time at Hagan and she tackles him to the ground as the ball hits the tree above them. She drags him back up and they run again still coughing. _

_"_Are they trying to kill the boy?!"

_ "You hear a hissing sound, You dive to the ground." She yells at him. He nods. _

_A fallen branch on fire falls in front of Katniss making her back up. She tells Hagan to jump and then she jumps but not high enough because the end of her jacket gets caught on a branch sticking out pulling her back. _

_She pulls it free ripping the bottom of it and then starts stomping it into the ground to kill the fire. Hagan comes back to her after noticing she wasn't running anymore. The fire that won't extinguish she rips it off with her hands which burn her. She puts the jacket back on thinking._

"Oh my god! Just leave the damn jacket!" Jo exclaims.

"No! She can't do that! It's better to have half a jacket than no jacket." Cato says.

"He's right they make the nights cold."

_"Kat come on!" Hagan shouts, tugging her, but then he hears a hiss and throws both of them down on the ground making it hit another branch. _

_The branch falls on top of Hagan legs and is on fire. _

_"Katniss!" He yells for her._

_ "Help." _

_She quickly gets up putting her bow down on the ground and starts pushing the broken branch from him. The fire burns her hands and it makes her stop pushing with them. She frantically thinks of something to get the heavy branch off him before the fire gets to him. He catches her wrist._

"See this is why I said leave the fucking jacket."

"No this is not why. The Gamemakers did this on purpose. They want Katniss to fail in saving her brother." Finnick explains.

"Oh my…..How is she going to get it off?" Cecelia gasps holding on to Chaff.

_"Just leave me. It's too heavy to push-off." He says shakily with tears in his eyes._

_ She has tears of her own while shaking her head at him defiantly._

Everybody has tears in their eyes_. _

"No, he can't die. She can't leave him there to burn to death."

_"Like hell I will! If you think I'm going to leave you here then your fucking delusional!" She hisses at him and then sits on her butt and position her feet on the branch and pushes it off him, forcefully. Just as she gets him free and up another hissing sounds and they dive again, but she didn't move quickly enough as the fireball skits her left upper thigh setting her pants on fire. _

_She yells trying to pat at hit but then regains her sense back and start rolling on the ground putting the fire out._

"Thank god she didn't leave him."

"Katniss doesn't give up."

"The Gamemakers went too far with that one."

"Why would they send another fireball on them?" Chaff ask watching it skit Katniss upper thigh.

"That's why. They want her injured." Cato points out.

They all watch Katniss roll on the ground trying to get the fire out and see that her pants are torched when she's done.

"She's going to have to cut those off." Finnick comments.

"She's going to have one hell of a burn."

_Her pants are torched, her leg is burning and her hands ache but she ignores it all and gets up dragging Hagan up with her. She limps while she runs next to Hagan. I hissing comes again but its from behind them and they slip apart jumping different ways. A fire wall starts between and by the time they get to their feet they are shoulder-high._

"They're trying to separate them!" Cato explains, shouting.

"But why?"

"I have no idea." He sighs.

"I think they want to see how they will do without each other." Haymitch comments.

_ "Katniss!" Hagan yells over the wall looking panicked at her._

_ She knows she can't get through the fire without severely hurting herself in the process. They'll have to run separate ways now. She thinks quickly. _

_"Do you have your spear?" She yells. _

_He shakes his head. "No I dropped it when the branch fell on me!" She makes quick work as she throws her bow over the fire, then the sheath with the arrows in it, and lastly the pack with all their supplies in it. "What are you doing?" He yells at her picking all the stuff up, putting the pack on his back and then the sheath with arrow and he holds the bow in his trembling hands. _

_"Remember what I taught you!" She tells him. He nods still standing there._

"What is she doing?"

"She's being Katniss." Cato grunts.

"What do you means she's being Katniss?" Finnick ask confused.

"She's thinking of Hagan before she thinks of herself. She rather have nothing to survive or protect herself with if that means Hagan can." Haymitch explains before Cato can.

_"Hagan go before another fireball comes!" _

_He shakes his head with tears brimming his eyes. "What about you?" His voice hoarse from all the coughing. Same as hers. _

_"I'll be fine. I promise I'll come and find you." She tells him, backing away from the growing wall. "Now go!" she catches a little glimpse of him fleeing in the other direction. She runs away too, promising herself she'll find him. She limps running blindly, trying to get out of the section that will keep burning. This is not just a natural fire._

"Just to let you guys know, she always keeps her promises." Cato states.

"Let's hope so."

_She's coughing uncontrollably now and has to stop at a tree hunched over and throws up her bird's meat and water she had contained. It burns her throat and she heaves. She wipes her mouth with the back of her trembling hand and then she keeps running. _

_She's so focused on running that she doesn't even notice she is ankle-deep in a pond until it reaches her burned thigh. She sighs in relieve as the burning goes away and all she can feel is the cold pond water surrounds it._

"The smoke must have really gotten to her." Cecelia states.

"She can't stay there for long before someone sees her."

"I think she knows that." Chaff says.

_ She drags herself out of the water regretfully but knowing she has to cut away the burnt material that surrounds both of her legs. She stands on trembling legs and her red blistered hands reach behind her pulling the knife Hagan gave her for skinning from her waist band. _

_Her hands trembles so badly at the pressure she put on them to cut her pants off. Her leg hurts so badly that it brings tears to her stinging eyes. Her throat is so raw from all that coughing and throwing up that it hurts too much to even swallow her own spit. She has a cramp in her side and it hurts to breathe even the slightest. But she sucks it up not wanting the Capitol to think she looks weak, so she sets her face in a scowl and blinks back the tears as she cuts away the last of her pants._

"She's trying to hide how much pain she's in."

"I'm starting to think they torched her pants on purpose." Finnick states.

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, look at her for instance. She isn't ugly and she has a great body." Finnick says

"Hey, watch it." Cato snaps at him glaring.

Finnick holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying that the Gamemakers wanted her to show a little skin for the Capitol people."

"You mean…if she would win then…they'll make her like you?" Brutus ask comprehending.

Finnick nods.

"What?! They can't. They know she's with me." Cato states confused.

"They don't care. The only reason the Capitol people didn't want you when you won was because you are Snow's grandson. But her? They can buy her and Hagan if they wanted to. Snow will sell them if one of them comes out." Finnick explains.

Cato deflates while Haymitch pats him on the back. "We'll think of something when the time comes."

_Now she stands there for all of Panem to see in shorts that barely cover her ass. She's pissed that the fire destroyed majority of her pants and now has to walk around with her legs bare in these short shorts. She wants to punch somebody. _

_She tucks the knife back in her waist band and sits on rock. She breathes deeply even though it hurts badly and takes a look at her burned upper thigh. Her breathing falters at the sight. It looks so badly burned and it hurts to move it. She tries to remember what her mother told her about burns._

"That looks like a third-degree burn."

"Can't we send her something?"

"No, not yet." Haymitch shakes his head.

_She moves back into the water taking away the burning again. She puts her hands in also and lays her head back on the rock closing her eyes again. The sun will set in an hour and she's wounded and too tired to leave and plus she doesn't think she can leave this pond that takes away the pain. She honestly doesn't even are if the Careers find her. She can take them with just a knife…..well maybe now, but she's just too tired to care. _

_Let them find me. _

_And with that last thought she drifts to sleep._

"Why is she going to sleep out in the open?"

"Because she's too tired to move." Chaff explains.

"Why is she sleeping in the water? She could drown."

"No she won't. The water is cooling her burn." Finnick explains to Jo.

"Doesn't she know she's out in the open? I swear she's brainless."

"I think it's quite obvious that she's out in the open Jo." She glares at him.

"Fuck off Fish brains." He just smirks at her.

"I was never on Jo bear." She glares at him again.

"Okay, before you two start bickering I think she knows she's out in the open and that she doesn't care." Haymitch says.

They nod.

_ And find her they do. If it weren't for her hunters ears she would have never heard them coming unless they were 10 feet away. She's up on her feet with her dripping wet clothes clinging to her body as she runs…well rather limp away. _

_They are all cheering and laughing when they see her and continue to run toward her. Especially Jason who is at the front of the group trying to get to her first. He looks hungry…..and not that type of hungry you're thinking about. She knows she can't out run them with a burned leg so she quickly scales a tree and then finds one that has high branched. _

_She climbs. _

_If running hurt a lot then this is excruciating pain. Because she has to use direct contact on her hands making her blisters bust and bleed. Her thigh is a throbbing mess by the time she is twenty feet up. She perches herself on a branch putting her back against the trunk and her legs out in front of her._

"I told you they would find her."

"Shut it Jo." Cato hisses at her.

"Did you guys see the way Jason was staring at her?" Cecelia shudders.

They nod with disgust written all over their faces.

_ The Careers stand at the base of the tree glaring up at her except Clove who looks concerned and confused. Katniss tilts her head a little looking at her questionably. Jason punches the tree mad that he can't reach her. She smiles a bit at this. _

_"How's everything down there?" She calls out smirking at them. They all seem shocked._

_ "Good and you?" Clove ask._

_ Katniss shrugs. "Bit too warm for my taste." _

_"How about you come join me?" She then ask, knowing all of them weigh too much for the branches to support their weight. Well...maybe Clove is an exception._

Everybody stares at the screen in astonishment.

"Is she….taunting them?" Jo ask and then laughs "Girl got guts. I think you need to watch out Cato. I might take her from you."

Cato rolls his eyes. "Like she'll ever leave me for you. My dick is too good to her." He smirks at her disgusted face.

"Too much information. More than I want to know about you and Sweetheart." Haymitch grunts.

Cato just shrugs, smirking, smugly.

"I hope they all know they are too heavy to climb up to her." Brutus says.

"Well, everybody but Clove. She's pretty small for her age." Cato comments.

_"Think I will." Jason smirks and starts climbing._

_ But that smirk is wiped off his face when a branch snaps under his foot making him fall on his back. He hits the ground with a thud and curses as he gets up. He glares up at her. She smiles innocently at him. _

_"Aww is Jason afraid of heights?" she teases. _

_"Just watch, when I get my hands on you-" _

_"But I'm twenty feet up, so you can't touch me now can you?" She cocks her head to the side smiling slightly. Jason was about to respond when Clove stepped in._

Everybody laughs.

_ "Just leave her up there and we'll figure out what to do in the morning. She isn't going anywhere."_

_ She's right she isn't going anywhere. She can barely move her left leg. And her hands are shaking too much. _

_"Fine, someone build a fire." Jason barks._

"I hope she has a plan to get out of there."

"She'll come up with something."

**_The camera then switches to Hagan. _**

**_The fire didn't get him as he washes up at a river he found. You can tell he's crying about being separated from his sister._**

"Poor kid. At least he's safe." Chaff says.

The camera switches back to Katniss's pain face.

_But the distraction doesn't last too long because the throbbing is so intense she almost cries out. She bites her tongue and look up at the sky with painful tears in her eyes. Her body is shaking all over and she can't control it; it partly has to do with its getting cold now. _

_"Haymitch." She whispers into the sky knowing he is watching her._

_ If the pain won't go away then she won't be able to work on a plan to get out of the tree before the Careers come up with any idea. She waits for a minute or two watching the sky but then give up knowing she told him to only use the sponsor money on Hagan. She should be glad that he is listening to her but she can't help but be a little sad that he's going to leave her here in agony._

"She's calling you Hay. Aren't you going to send her something?!" Cato snaps.

He shrugs. "If I send her something now the Careers will see and hear it so it's better to wait until the anthem starts. She can wait until then." He explains crossing his arms and grits his teeth.

_She crosses her arms leaning her head back on the trunk and stare straight ahead. She finds eyes staring right back at her only they aren't animal eyes. She cocks her head to the right and squints her eyes to see in the dark. The eyes are big and round and they are looking right back at her. She's seen those eyes before and then she realizes it's Rue. Rue points to a branch above her head and she looks and then freezes; holding her breath. _

_Tracker Jackers. _

_The most lethal mutations the Capitol has created. If they sting you it turns into the size of a plum and you start hallucinating. If you get stung a lot of times then you're as good as dead. Katniss stares at them, but they seem to be moving slow on the branch above her._

"If it hadn't been for Rue she would have never noticed them."

"How long has Rue been there?"

"Probably a long time."

_They must still be hazy from the smoke and are not fully recovered yet. This gives her an idea. She looks down to where the Careers are putting someone on watch as the others start to lay down and go to sleep by the fire. She looks back to where Rue was but she doesn't see her there anymore._

"Do you see that look on her face boy?" Haymitch grunts nudging Cato who nods.

Everybody else looks confused. "What look?"

"That look is a bad look. It means she has a plan, but most of her plans don't turn out too well. I should know from experience." Cato explains.

"But her having a plan is a good thing." Chaff says.

"Yes, but she is known for not thinking her plans all the way through. She's like the type that just goes for it and sees what the outcome is later." He explains.

_The anthem will play in few minutes so she need to work fast if she's going to get her plan into motion. She painfully climbs up one branch and sits on it coming face to face with the branch the tracker jackers nest hangs on. She grabs her knife from her waist band and grips it tightly. _

_She places the blade on the branch while holding the handle with both hands and waits for the anthem to start playing._

"Is she going to cut the branch?"

"How will she make it out of the tree fast enough to leave?"

"Her new nickname is defiantly brainless." Jo shakes her head.

_She doesn't know if her hands can handle the pain she's about to put them through but she doesn't have time to think as the Capitol seal shows up and the anthem bares out. This is her cue and she starts to saw at the branch. _

_Blisters burst as she drags the knife back and forth on the branch gritting her teeth from crying out in pain. She works through and focus on the back and forth motion of the knife cutting through the branch._

Haymitch gets up and goes to send her some burn medicine.

_ She quickly glances at the sky seeing there was no deaths today and feels herself stop worrying about Hagan being dead. The audience should be good with what they got earlier today with the fire and now this! They are seeing her injured and trapped in a tree with the Careers surrounding her below._

_ They are more than okay. _

_She was almost half way through the branch when the anthem runs out and she's forced to stop. She sighs frustrated that she didn't finish but who was she kidding. Even if she did cut all the way through the branch and make it fall on the Careers, how far would she get with them distracted? She's injured and she can barely move herself._

"So I guess that plan didn't work."

"She's too injured to do anything about it."

Haymitch comes back in the room sitting back down.

"You sent her something?" Cato ask him. He nods.

_Her hands are practically screaming at her wanting relief. She wishes she had some food because her stomach is eating itself inside out. When she climbs back to her branch she finds a silver box with a parachute sitting on it. _

_She snatches it up and gets herself situated on the branch with her back against the trunk and her feet out in front of her. She opens the silver box attached to the parachute and finds a note and a medium size jar. She read the small note first. _

**_Apply generously and stay alive._**

**_ -H _**

_She wants to cry in joy as she opens up the jar finding burn cream in it. She quickly applies some to her burned thigh instantly feeling the cream cool the burn to where it becomes numb and then she does her hands. She puts the jar inside the parachute and ties it to her belt not wanting to lose it. _

_"Thank you." She whispers up into the sky to Haymitch._

"Glad she's not like the other tributes who just takes it like they were expecting it." Cecelia comments.

"Effie must be proud." Haymitch muses.

Everybody chuckles a little.

_ She closes her eyes wrapping her arms around herself as it starts to get colder. She'll he to wake up early before dawn to finish it. So she mines well get a few hours of sleep. Just as she about to drift off a hand covers her mouth. Her eyes snap open widening as she is face to face with Clove. _

_She puts a finger to her lips as if saying 'Don't scream.' Katniss nods and Clove carefully takes her hand away from her. _

_"What the hell do you want?!" She hisses. _

_"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Clove says concerned. _

_Katniss just stares at her suspiciously. _

_"Why do you even care? Aren't you up here to kill me?" She says coldly._

_ "No." Clove chuckles lightly. _

_Now Katniss gives her a confused stare. "Why not?"_

_"Because Cato is crazy about you and he would kill me himself if I killed you or your brother. Plus my intentions where to never kill either of you. Just to…help you succeed." She smiles a little. _

_"Help me? Why would you want to help me?" _

_"Like I said Cato is my best friend and he cares too much about you and your brother to lose both of you. So I want to help him at least keep one of you. You both are too special to him to just die." She explains._

_ "What about you? Don't you have someone to go back home to?" Katniss ask quietly._

_ She shakes her head. "No I don't. But Hagan does. So I'm going to help whether you like it or not." She shrugs starting to climb down. "I just thought I should let you know." _

_"Wait!" Katniss grabs hold of her wrist._

_Clove looks up confused. "What?" _

_"I-you- Thank you." Katniss sighs. _

_Clove nods and starts to move again but her grip tightens _

_"Sleep the farthest away from the tree as possible." _

_"Why?" _

_"Don't ask questions and just do it." She replies back and let's go of her wrist._

_ Clove nods and climbs all the way down the tree and picks a spot at least 6 feet away. Katniss gets comfortable again closing her eyes and falling asleep finally without anyone disturbing her._

"So that's why she didn't kill Katniss when she had the chance."

"Yea, and I'll never be able to repay her for this." Cato sighs.

"She didn't tell you because she didn't want you to blame yourself for her death." Brutus says.

He nods sadly.

* * *

_ Katniss wakes up from her restless sleep judging by the sky an hour before dawn. She looks down at the Careers who are asleep and Clove is far away from them. She looks at her thigh and gasp at the new pink skin. There is still a little throbbing but not like it was yesterday. _

_She then looks at her hands and see they are a light red and a little blistered still. She reapplies the cream and then puts it away. She looks into the tree across from her where Rue was. It's only fair to warn her about what she's about to do. _

_"Rue!" She whisper shouts. The big eyes return looking at her and then she points again to the branch above her. Katniss nods and pulls out her knife and makes a sawing motion with it. Rue nods knowing what she meant and then flees her tree hopping from tree to tree like a bird. Katniss chuckles to herself and starts to climb again without pain. _

_She sits herself on a branch like she did last night and puts her knife back in the cut she made._

"That was nice of her to warn little Rue of her plan." Cecelia says.

"Yea and let's hope this plan of hers work."

_ She grips the handle and then starts the back and forward motion again looking down occasionally to see if the Careers woke up. About a little over have way through she sees one of the wasp come out still a little haze and once it feels someone disturbing it's nest it will wake the others, so she has to work quickly._

_ Back and forth, back and forth._

_ Her hands sting and she can hear the buzzing starting up. _

_Back and forth. _

_She yelps as one stings her hand and can see the swelling start, but she doesn't stop almost through the branch. Another one stings her leg as she stopped sawing it with the knife and grabs the branch behind her and starts to kick at the branch and it breaks more. _

_Another one stings her on the side of her neck just before the branch breaks and falls through the trees and then all there is, is chaos. _

_"To the lake!" someone yells and everybody starts scrambling away. _

_Katniss climbs down clumsily starting to feel the venom take its effect. She misses her step on the last branch and falls to the ground knocking the wind out of herself. _

_"Help!" One of the Career girls yells but it's too late for her as all the wasp sting her and her body become lump from the stings. She drops to the ground wiggling until she goes still_

"Oh my…"

"Why is she just lying there? She need to fucking run!" Jo exclaims pissed.

"I think the poison is already taking its effect. She got stung three times Jo." Brutus says.

_ Katniss makes it to her feet struggling in her haze to get away before they come back. But she's not in her right mind and she's too slow because Jason comes running through the bushes with a sword in his hand. He spots her and pushes her to the ground and raises his sword and then brings it down on her leg cutting her deep. _

_She howls in pain trying to get away from him_.

"He's going to kill her!"

"I can't watch….I can't" Cato says covering his eyes.

"Look boy!" Haymitch grunts, slapping him on the back of his head.

He takes his hands away and looks at the screen.

_Jason suddenly turns around and she sees Clove with knives in her hand and see's one sticking out of Jason's back. _

_"Katniss go! Get out of here! I got this!" Clove yells at her._

_ Katniss stands shakily and starts to limp away as best she could. She gets at least 30 yards away before she collapses into a whole of a tree._

"Clove saved her life." Chaff gasps.

"She won't be able to fight him off for long. She might be able to damage him, but that's it." Brutus grunts.

"I think Clove knew that." Cato sighs.

_ She has just enough sense left as she struggles to take her jacket off and then her shirt and rips her shirt tying it around where Jason cut her to stop the bleeding and then she slips her jacket back on and zips it all the way up. She immediately pulls out the stingers from where she got stung making green puss come out of the stings and then she blacks out._

"At least she won't bleed out while she's out." Finnick comments.

_**The camera goes back to Clove and Jason fighting. **_

_**Clove managed to stab Jason a few times before he pins her down under him. **_

_**He laughs at her. **_

_**"I should have known you would betray your own district partner." Jason spits at her.**_

_** "You were never my district partner. You're nothing but crazy. You won't win." Clove laughs, harshly.**_

_** "She won't let you. She'll kill you before she gives you a chance." **_

_**"Shut up!" Jason punches her in her face making blood come from her mouth. **_

_**She just keeps laughing. "Why? You know it's the truth. You're going to die Jason and it's going to be by her hands." She spits blood in his face.**_

_** He doesn't bother wiping it off. He just smirks at her, darkly. "Well looks like you won't live to see it. I think I should practice on what I want to do to her on you." **_

_**Her eyes widen and she starts struggling again. **_

_**He laughs now. "Struggling only turns me on." He says and then rips her shirt open.**_

"I can't watch….Tell me when it's over." Cato mumbles covering his eyes.

**_ "I hope you rot in hell." Clove spits at his as one of his hands tries to unbutton her pants. _**

**_Her arm is free and she pick up a knife she dropped near her and uses her elbow to hit Jason in the head. He gets distracted for a minute and she takes the chance. She looks up at the sky with tears in her eyes, bringing the knife to throat. _**

**_"I'm sorry Cato." _**

**_She slits her throat as Jason tries to stop her. But he's too late as her blood splatters and then her cannon goes off. Jason punches her dead body, pissed that he didn't get to have his fun._**

"She killed herself."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Cato mumbles and then gets up running to the bathroom they have in the mentors room and starts throwing up.

Everything is too real for him to handle.

He just lost his best-friend that he has known since diapers.

* * *

They spend two days watching Jason recover from his wounds and kill a tribute.

Hagan stays by the river for shelter and Rue spies on people.

Katniss stays past out in the ditch for that long. Her wound stopped bleeding a day ago, but she lost a lot of blood. Her skin is a little pale and she looks skinnier.

_When she opens her eyes the light is too bright and she has to shield her eyes with her arm. The first thing she notices is how weak she is and how stiff her muscles are._

"Look, she's finally waking up!"

"Thank god. I thought she was dead" Jo moans.

Everybody shoots Jo a glare.

_ She takes her arm away and at her surroundings. She's in a whole under a tree with a bunch on dead leaves surrounding her. She sits up hearing her back pop in different places and tries to stand, but she lets out a hiss as pain shoots from her left thigh. She drops back down and looks at her black shirts wrapped around her wound._

"She must have forgotten she was injured."

_So she stills her emotions and unwraps her town shirt from around her thigh. What she sees makes he want to throw up even if her stomach is empty already. Her thigh is swollen and red. Has blood caked all around it. The cut looks mean and abused. The smell isn't too great either._

"How deep did Jason cut her?"

"He cut her deep. Looks like to the bone." Brutus states.

"Is there any medicine you can send her Haymitch?" Cato ask, desperatly.

He shakes his head. "No. The type of medicine she needs will take up all of her sponsor money. She wouldn't want that."

_She can't look at it any longer or she will weaken and start to throw up. She quickly wraps her thigh back up and makes crawl out of the hole she is in. Every move she makes brings pain and by the time she is out in the open she is sweating. She wipe her forehead with shaky hands and then makes herself stand._

_ She can't help but cry out in pain as she is fully standing. She leans against the base of a tree trying to slow her breathing._

"I don't how she can keep going with a cut like that! I know she's hurting." Jo exclaims.

_ But, before she can even attempt to go for it she feels someone's presences, she looks around but see's nothing. Then she hears a twig snap right by the tree she is leaning on and turns her head and sees Rue. She looks frighten for a minute until Katniss smiles at her. _

_"It's okay Rue. I'm not going to hurt you." She says softly and then chuckles. "Besides in my condition you can probably take me down yourself." _

_Rue looks at her concerned and steps out from behind the tree. "What happened to you?" She ask quietly looking at her wrapped leg._

_ Katniss shrugs. "It's nothing really. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She says. _

_Rue gives a hesitant nod. _

_"You know they aren't the only ones who can be allies." _

_"You want to be my ally?" Rue ask hopefully. _

_She nods._

"Looks like Rue is getting what she wanted." Chaff smirks.

"Hopefully she can help Katniss out." Cecelia says.

_"Of course. If you still alive then your obviously smart enough to survive." She gives her a small smile. _

_Rue smiles back and then looks at her stings that are still the size of plums. "I have something for that." She points and digs in her pouch pulling out a lot of leaves. "These will make them go away and fight infection."_

_ Katniss nods and sits down trying not to hiss in pain. She puts her back against the base of the tree and her legs out in front of her. Rue looks at her shyly before putting some of the leaves in her mouth and starts chewing.__After a minute she spits it on her hand and then puts it on the sting on her leg. Katniss gasp at how good it feels._

_Rue smiles at her. "At least you were smart enough to pull the stingers out or it would have been much worse." She says. _

_Katniss laughs relieved at finally having some off the pain leave her body. "Do my neck." She practically begs._

_ Rue tends to her other two stings and then looks down at her wrapped thigh. "Can I see your leg?" She ask reaching for it._

_ Katniss sees a burn on her arm and catches her wrist trying to get the attention off her leg._

"Why doesn't she want her to see her leg? Rue can help her." Jo exclaims, pissed.

"She's too stubborn to take help from people." Haymitch grunts, shaking his head.

_"Your arm. What happened to it?" She pulls her jacket sleeve up to get a better look t it._

_ "I got caught in the wild-fire they started." She explains. _

_"I have something for that." Katniss tells her and pulls the parachute free from her belt and opens the still full jar. _

_"Oh, you have sponsors." Rue stated. She nods and applies some of the cream to her arm. _

_"Thanks" _

_"Welcome. So Rue can you tell me how long I was out for?" Katniss ask hoarsely. _

_Her throat is so dry. Rue must sense this because she hands Katniss some of her water. Katniss smiles gratefully at this and takes sips. _

_"You were out for two days." Rue tells her. Katniss chokes on the water and coughs. _

_"Two days!" she sputters. _

_Rue nods carefully. _

_"Who died?" _

_"The girl from 1 and 2 and the boy from 10." Katniss gasps at this._

_ Clove died for her. She fought off Jason long enough so that she could get away. She'll never be able to repay Clove for what she did. Who knows what Jason had done to her and quite frankly she hopes she never has to find out. She silently says a 'goodbye' and 'thank you' to Clove who risked her life for her._

"She's not going to forgive herself for letting Clove die to save her." Finnick comments.

Everybody nods.

_"Um…what about Hagan, my brother?" She ask carefully. _

_God if something happened to him she wouldn't be able to live with herself. _

_"He's okay. I think he's still down by the river." Rue blushes a little. _

_Katniss eyes her suspiciously. _

_"What?" Rue squeaks. _

_Katniss shakes her head laughing a little. Rue has a crush on her little brother._

"Looks like little Rue has a little crush on Hagan." Finnick smirks looking at Chaff and Cecelia.

Everybody laughs.

"She used to talk about him after training." Chaff chuckles.

_ "So where is Jason and what's left of the Career pack?" She ask after a minute. _

_"It's only him and the boy from 1 left. They have all their supplies down by the lake, piled up in this great big pyramid." _

_"Sounds tempting." Katniss smirks. _

_Rue looks at her confused._

"Oh lord, not that look again." Jo sighs, throwing her hands in the air.

"Hopefully she'll think this one through." Chaff suggest.

_ "What do you mean?" _

_She doesn't get a chance to answer when the trumpets play._

_ It's rare to have the trumpets play in the middle of the Games because it can only mean two things. One, being a rule change. Two, being a feast. They both listen carefully as Claudius Templesmith speaks above them. _

_Tributes, congratulations on being in the final 8. There has been a rule change. Two tributes can win coming from the same district. Thank you and may the odds be ever in your favor._

Everybody gasp in surprise and shock.

_Rue turns to Katniss giving her a little smile, "They did this for you and Hagan"_

_Katniss gives her a confused look. "What do mean? Thresh is still alive. You guys have a chance." She replies back thinking, Why would they do this just for me and Hagan? What's so special about us? _

_Rue shrugs, "I guess, but the people like you and Hagan better. I already accepted the fact that I might die in here." _

_"Me too Rue, me to…, but don't doubt yourself. Now let us go find my brother." Katniss says trying to stand up. She grunts in pain and falls back on her butt. _

_Rue looks at her concerned._

"Do you guys know what this means?" Cato ask excitedly.

Everybody looks at him weird because it's rare for him to show excitement, but they nod anyway, too happy themselves.

"No, we don't know what this means because we weren't just listening to what you heard." Jo says sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

Cato glares at her, but nothing now can ruin his happiness.

_"Are you sure you don't want me to look at that. I can help." Rue tells her. _

_She shakes her head stubbornly. "No, I'm fine really. Just sore. Do you think you can hand me that thick stick over there?" She points to the stick lying on the round._

_ Rue walks over to it and drags it to Katniss who smiles in thanks. She pushes herself up forcefully and then grabs hold on the stick to lean on. _

_"Okay, we can go now but we are going to have to move slow." Katniss tells her as she starts limping with the stick. _

_Rue follows her worriedly._

"Stubborn ass." Cato mumbles.

"She's just making her wound worst by walking on it." Brutus says shaking his head.

_"Are you sure you can walk? It's quite far to get to the river." Rue says._

_ Katniss gives her a painful smile, trying to cover up at how much pain she really is in. "Like I said I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle." She lies through gritted teeth trying to stop the sound that wants to rip through her throat. _

_Rue nods._

"She's putting Hagan before herself even if she is hurt." Cecelia states in admiration.

"I told you she keeps her promises. I don't know how she does it." Cato sighs.

_"Okay if you say so. Follow me the rivers this way." Rue gestures and starts walking slowly in that direction as Katniss struggles to keeps up with her. _

_Lucky for them Katniss had woken up early in the morning, so they have a lot of time to reach the river before night falls._

* * *

**_A/N:_**

**_I told you guys I would update another chapter tonight, even though it is late. But I was not going to sleep until I uploaded this Chapter!_**

**_I honestly love this chapter because to me it's kind of funny. _**

**_Also, I am sorry I to go a little dark on you in the story with Clove and all, but I was not going to let Jason rape her! Plus I can't even find it in me to even write a nasty and dark seen like that. I get shivers just thinking about it. So don't worry about ever having to read something that dark from me. _**

**_Next chapter will be up this Friday. I would have said tomorrow, but I already promised I would finish writing and uploading my first story in 'In Hiding' tomorrow._**

**_I better have a lot of reviews for uploading two chapters in one night! But this is basically an apology gift, but also a ONE TIME THING!_**

**_PLEASE REVIEW!_**


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